Broadcast/broadband convergence network

ABSTRACT

A broadcast/broadband convergence system that delivers content from content sources to user equipment devices. The system provides: significantly enhanced mobile capability to the broadcast industry; an additional revenue source for the broadcast industry by dynamically selling available spectral resources for use by wireless broadband networks and/or broadcast content off-loaded from wireless broadband networks; additional spectrum for the broadband industry through the dynamic purchase of available spectrum; and an enriched user experience. A spectrum server may facilitate the dynamic allocation of radio spectrum made available by the broadcast networks. The broadcast networks may broadcast with enhanced waveform parameters to support mobile devices as well as fixed devices.

PRIORITY CLAIM INFORMATION

The present application claims the benefit of priority of provisionalapplication Ser. No. 61/864,631 titled “Broadcast/Broadband ConvergenceNetwork” and filed on Aug. 11, 2013, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forthherein.

The present application also claims the benefit of priority ofprovisional application Ser. No. 61/864,976 titled “Broadcast/BroadbandConvergence Network” and filed on Aug. 12, 2013, which is each herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completelyset forth herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates to the field of telecommunication, and moreparticularly, to mechanisms for enabling broadcast networks and wirelessbroadband networks to advantageously cooperate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Mobile communications have rapidly increased in usage since theintroduction of the first ATSC standard by the Grand Alliance in 1995.The rapid advancement of wireless broadband networks has altered the waycontent is created, delivered, and consumed. A new generation ofconsumers has grown up with the always-connected Internet, on-demandcontent, and social networking in a world not anticipated when ATSC wasconceived. In the past two decades significant social, economic, andtechnological changes have occurred which profoundly impact the way welive, work, and play. Considering the above, further improvements aredesirable in mobile broadcast communications.

Despite the advancement in wireless broadband technology, broadcastremains the most cost effective way to deliver content to a large numberof viewers concurrently. Harmonization between broadcast and broadbandis a matter of economics. Unlike a broadcast system serving linearprogramming to many viewers simultaneously, content-on-demand requires aunicast system in which the transport cost increases as the number ofusers increases. Broadband providers have the need to offload trafficfrom highly congested licensed spectrum to unlicensed spectrum (Wi-Fi,Whitespace) and to broadcast network and spectrum, which representssignificant new revenue opportunity for broadcasters.

Harmonization with wireless broadband systems (e.g., LTE) enhances userexperience, facilitates sharing of valuable spectrum, and enablesequipment (transmitter, base station, and User Equipment (UE)) tosupport both broadcast and wireless broadband at minimal incrementalcost.

Content-on-demand is clearly the preferred user experience of theInternet generation. Enhancing the conventional broadcast paradigm withunicast user experience seamlessly is therefore desirable for the longterm success of the broadcast industry.

The Next Generation Broadcast Platform (NGBP) preserves the conventionalbroadcast model while providing additional revenue generating optionsfor broadcasters to leverage wireless broadband.

Further improvements in mobile broadcast and broadband networks aredesirable, particularly related to the convergence of these networks.

SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In one set of embodiments, a spectrum server for allocating availablebroadcast spectrum resources under carrier aggregation may be configuredas follows. The spectrum server may include one or more processors andmemory. The memory stores program instructions, wherein the programinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the oneor more processors to: (a) receive information indicating broadcastspectrum (e.g., one or more channels, not necessarily contiguous) madeavailable by one or more broadcast networks; (b) assign at least aportion (perhaps all) of the available broadcast spectrum to a wirelessbroadband network in response to a request from the wireless broadbandnetwork, wherein said assigned at least a portion is defined by aninterval of resource block numbers (or, by one or more intervals ofresource block numbers) according to a partition of the availablebroadcast spectrum into resource blocks of fixed width; and (c) transmita message to the wireless broadband network, wherein the messageidentifies the interval of resource block numbers (or, identifies thethe one or more intervals of resource block numbers).

In one set of embodiments, a spectrum server for allocating availablebroadcast spectrum resources under carrier aggregation may be configuredas follows. The spectrum server may include one or more processors andmemory. The memory stores program instructions, wherein the programinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the oneor more processors to: (a) combine channels of broadcast spectrum madeavailable by one or more broadcast networks to form a contiguous band;(b) assign a contiguous portion of the contiguous band to a wirelessbroadband network in response to a request from the wireless broadbandnetwork, wherein the contiguous portion is defined by an interval ofresource block numbers according to a partition of the contiguous bandinto resource blocks of fixed width; and (c) transmit a message to thewireless broadband network, wherein the message identifies the intervalof resource block numbers.

In one set of embodiments, a base station for operation as part of awireless broadband network may be configured as follows. The basestation may enable dynamic aggregation of spectrum resources, and mayinclude circuitry configured to wirelessly transmit a downlink signal(e.g., OFDM signal) to one or more devices using aggregated spectrumresources including a portion of broadband spectrum and a portion ofbroadcast spectrum. The portion of broadcast spectrum has been madeavailable by one or more broadcast networks and dynamically assigned tothe wireless broadband network by a spectrum server. The portion ofbroadcast spectrum is specified by the spectrum server as an interval ofresource block numbers (or, as one or more intervals of resource blocknumbers) according to a partition of a band of the broadcast spectruminto resource blocks of fixed width.

In one set of embodiments, a device enabling dynamic aggregation ofspectrum resources may include circuitry configured to wirelesslycommunicate with one or more base stations associated with a wirelessbroadband network. The communication may include receiving a downlinksignal (e.g., OFDM signal) transmitted by a first of the one or morebase stations, where the downlink signal uses aggregated spectrumresources including a portion of broadband spectrum and a portion ofbroadcast spectrum. The portion of broadcast spectrum has been madeavailable by one or more broadcast networks and dynamically assigned tothe wireless broadband network by a spectrum server. The portion ofbroadcast spectrum is specified by the spectrum server as an interval ofresource block numbers (or, as one or more intervals of resource blocknumbers) according to a partition of a contiguous band of the broadcastspectrum into resource blocks of fixed width.

In one set of embodiments, a base station for use as part of a wirelessnetwork may include one or more primary-band (PB) radios, one or moreadditional radios, and a controller. Each of the PB radios is configuredto transmit at least over a respective one of one or more primary bands.Each of the one or more additional radios has a carrier frequency thatis dynamically tunable or programmable to any of multiple frequencybands within the radio spectrum. The controller configured to: (a)receive information identifying a first dynamically-allocated spectrumresource: (b) tune or program a first of the one or more additionalradios to a first carrier frequency corresponding to the firstdynamically-allocated spectrum resource; (c) receive a data stream froman infrastructure network; (d) divide the data stream into a first setof substreams; (e) direct a parallel transmission of the substreams ofthe first set using respectively the one or more PB radios and the firstadditional radio.

In one set of embodiments, a device for operation as part of a wirelessbroadband network may include one or more primary-band transceivers, oneor more receivers and a controller. Each of the PB transceivers isconfigured to wirelessly communicate with a base station of the wirelessbroadband network using a respective one of one or more primary bandswithin a radio spectrum. Each of the one or more receivers has a carrierfrequency that is dynamically tunable or programmable to any of multiplefrequency bands within the radio spectrum. The controller may beconfigured to: (a) receive one or more network data streams from a basestation of the wireless broadband network using the one or more PBtransceivers; (b) tune or program a first of the one or more receiversto a carrier frequency corresponding to a first currently-availablespectrum resource of the radio spectrum in response to receiving a firstmessage from the base station, wherein the first message identifies thefirst currently-available spectrum resource; (c) receive a firstadditional network data stream from the base station using the firstreceiver after having tuned or programmed the first receiver; and (d)combine the one or more network data streams and the first additionalnetwork data stream to obtain an aggregate data stream.

In one set of embodiments, a device for operation as part of a wirelessbroadband network and for reception of one or more broadcast signalstransmitted by a broadcast network including one or more broadcasttransmitters, may include: one or more primary-band transceivers, one ormore receivers and a controller. Each of the PB transceivers isconfigured to wirelessly communicate with a base station of the wirelessbroadband network using a respective one of one or more primary bandswithin a radio spectrum. Each of the one or more receivers has a carrierfrequency that is dynamically tunable or programmable to any of multiplefrequency bands within the radio spectrum. The controller may beconfigured to: (a) receive one or more network data streams from a basestation of the wireless broadband network using the one or more PBtransceivers; (b) tune or program a first of the one or more receiversto a first broadcast frequency corresponding to a first broadcast signaltransmitted by a first of the broadcast transmitters; and (c) inresponse to said tuning or programming, recover a first broadcast datastream from the first broadcast signal using the first receiver, whereinthe first broadcast data stream comprises data that has been off-loadedby the wireless broadband network to the broadcast network for broadcastvia at least one of the one or more broadcast transmitters.

In one set of embodiments, a method for operating a spectrum server (tofacilitate the sale (e.g., dynamic, pre-negotiated, or pre-arranged) ofavailable spectrum resources to wireless broadband providers) mayinclude: (a) receiving a request for the purchase or use of a spectrumresource, wherein the request is received from a wireless broadbandprovider, (b) identifying a particular spectrum resource in a list ofspectrum resources that are not currently being used by a broadcastnetwork, wherein the broadcast network dynamically controls theallocation of broadcast content streams to spectrum resources fortransmission via a plurality of broadcast transmitters; and (c)transmitting information authorizing the wireless broadband provider touse the particular spectrum resource. Note that the term “sale” is to beinterpreted broadly. (For example, an auction is considered a form ofsale.)

In some embodiments, the method may also include receiving payment, thepromise of payment, or other consideration from the wireless broadbandprovider. This step may occur in any order relative to theabove-described steps (a) through (c). Indeed, payment may occur after(e.g., long after) the steps (a), (b) and (c) have been completed. Insome embodiments, some form of exchange may be performed instead ofpayment or in addition to payment.

In one set of embodiments, a method for operating a server as part of awireless broadband network (to facilitate the purchase, e.g., thedynamic purchase, of spectrum resources, wherein base stations of thewireless broadband network operate in the same geographical region as abroadcast network including a set of broadcast transmitters) mayinclude: (a) receiving a first message indicating that a given one ofthe base stations in the wireless network currently needs additionalbandwidth; (b) in response to the first message, sending a request to abroadcast server for purchase or use of a currently-available spectrumresource in a geographical neighborhood of the given base station; and(c) receiving from the broadcast server a second message identifying aparticular currently-available spectrum resource, wherein the broadcastnetwork has agreed that it will not transmit using the particularcurrently-available spectrum resource within the geographicalneighborhood of the given base station. Note that the above request isnot necessarily a request for purchase. In some embodiments, there maybe an exchange between the broadcaster(s) and the wireless broadbandnetwork. For example, from the broadcasters' perspective, they mayexchange the use of their broadcast spectrum for the use of the wirelesscarrier spectrum as a return channel for targeted advertisement.

In one set of embodiments, a method for operating an advertising servermay be performed as follows. The method may be performed as part of awireless network to provide targeted advertising to a device that isconfigured for communication with a wireless network and for receptionfrom broadcast transmitters of a broadcast network. The method mayinclude: (a) receiving viewing information from the device, wherein theviewing information characterizes behavior of a user of the device inviewing broadcast content through one or more of the broadcasttransmitters; (b) selecting advertising for the user of the device basedon the viewing information; and (c) transmitting a content streamcorresponding to the selected advertising to the device via acurrently-serving base station of the wireless network. The method mayalso include receiving viewer information (e.g., location, activities,browsing history, social media info, or sensor data, etc.) from thedevice. The selection step (b) may be performed based on the viewerinformation and/or the above-described viewing information.

In one set of embodiments, a method for operating an advertising servermay be performed as follows. The method may be performed as part of awireless network to provide targeted advertising to a device that isconfigured for communication with a wireless network and for receptionfrom broadcast transmitters of a broadcast network. The method mayinclude: (a) receiving viewing information from the device, wherein theviewing information characterizes behavior of a user of the device inviewing broadcast content through one or more of the broadcasttransmitters; (b) adding the viewing information to a user-specificrecord stored in a memory medium; (c) selecting advertising for the userof the device based on a current state of the user-specific record; and(d) transmitting a content stream corresponding to the selectedadvertising to the device via a currently-serving base station of thewireless network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a broadcast/broadband convergence system deliveringcontent from content sources to User Equipment (UE) devices according toone embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating a current generation chipset.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating a new generation chipsetaccording to one embodiment.

FIGS. 3 and 4 present Tables 1 and 2, which extend the PHY to includemultiple candidate CP lengths, expressed as a percentage of the FFTduration, as well as additional scaling in subcarrier spacing to extendthe symbol duration beyond that afforded by the existing eMBMS PHYspecification.

FIG. 5 presents Table 3, which shows RF system configuration via theMIB/SIB.

FIG. 6 illustrates a procedure for unsolicited HARQ retransmission,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates a revised eMBMS frane structure, according to oneembodiment.

FIGS. 8 and 9 present Tables 4 and 5, which show system throughput for 6MHz signal bandwidth and 8 of 10 eMBMS subframes (SFs) per frame.

FIG. 10 illustrates dynamic spectrum sharing, according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a simplified network architecture illustratingcooperation between broadcast and broadband networks to dynamicallyenable spectrum sharing, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 12 presents Table 6, which illustrates an example of a channelencoding scheme, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 presents Table 7, which shows a set of supported bandwidthclasses, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 14 gives an example of EARFCN assignment and system configuration,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates one embodiment of a spectrum server for allocatingavailable spectrum resources under carrier aggregation.

FIG. 16 illustrates one embodiment of a base station for use inconnection with a method for dynamically aggregating available spectrumresources.

FIG. 17 illustrates one embodiment of a device for use in associationwith a method for dynamically aggregating available spectrum resources.

FIG. 18 illustrates one embodiment of a base station for dynamic carrieraggregation.

FIG. 19 illustrates one embodiment of a device for dynamic carrieraggregation.

FIG. 20 illustrates one embodiment of a device for spectrum sharingusing broadcast infrastructure.

FIG. 21 illustrates one embodiment of a method for operating a spectrumserver to facilitate the dynamic sale of available spectrum resources towireless broadband providers.

FIG. 22 illustrates one embodiment of a spectrum purchase server for awireless network.

FIG. 23 illustrates one embodiment of a method for operating anadvertising server.

FIG. 24 illustrates one embodiment of a receiver system for receivingbroadcast TV signals.

FIG. 25 illustrates one embodiment of a transmitter system forbroadcasting TV signals.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to theparticular form illustrated, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes onlyand are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description. Asused throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissivesense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatorysense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,”and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.

Flowchart diagrams are provided to illustrate exemplary embodiments, andare not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular stepsillustrated. In various embodiments, some of the method elements shownmay be performed concurrently, performed in a different order thanshown, or omitted. Additional method elements may also be performed asdesired.

Various units, circuits, or other components may be described as“configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configuredto” is a broad recitation of structure generally meaning “havingcircuitry that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such,the unit/circuit/component can be configured to perform the task evenwhen the unit/circuit/component is not currently on. In general, thecircuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” mayinclude hardware circuits. Similarly, various units/circuits/componentsmay be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in thedescription. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including thephrase “configured to.” Reciting a unit/circuit/component that isconfigured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not toinvoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph six interpretation for thatunit/circuit/component. More generally, the recitation of any element isexpressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph sixinterpretation for that element unless the language “means for” or “stepfor” is specifically recited.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS List of Acronyms Used in the PresentPatent

ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committee

BB Broadband

BC Broadcast

CA Carrier Aggregation

CC Component Carriers

CCCH Common Control CHannel

CP Cyclic Prefix

DCCH Dedicated Control CHannel

DL Downlink

DVB Digital Video Broadcast

EARFCN E-Utra Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number

eMBMS evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

EPS Evolved Packet System

GI Guard Interval

GW Gateway

HD Radio: High-Definition Radio

LTE Long Term Evolution

MAC Medium Access Control

MIB Master Information Block

MME Mobility Management Entity

NAS Non-Access Stratum

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing

PBCH Physical Broadcast CHannel

PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

PDN Packet Data Network

PCC Policy and Charging Control

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indication Channel

PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

SF SubFrame

SFN Single Frequency Network

SIB System Information Block

SRB Signaling Radio Bearer

SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

Terminology Used in the Present Patent

Memory Medium—Any of various types of memory devices or storage devices.The term “memory medium” is intended to include an installation medium,e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; a computer system memoryor random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, RambusRAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash, magnetic media, e.g.,a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, or other similar types ofmemory elements, etc. The memory medium may include other types ofmemory as well or combinations thereof. In addition, the memory mediummay be located in a first computer system in which the programs areexecuted, or may be located in a second different computer system whichconnects to the first computer system over a network, such as theInternet. In the latter instance, the second computer system may provideprogram instructions to the first computer for execution. The term“memory medium” may include two or more memory mediums which may residein different locations, e.g., in different computer systems that areconnected over a network. The memory medium may store programinstructions (e.g., embodied as computer programs) that may be executedby one or more processors.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), grid computing system, cloud server or other device orcombinations of devices. In general, the term “computer system” can bebroadly defined to encompass any device (or combination of devices)having at least one processor that executes instructions from a memorymedium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gamingdevices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, PlayStation Portablem, Gameboy Advance™,iPhone™), laptops, PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, datastorage devices, other handheld devices, as well as wearable devicessuch as wrist-watches, headphones, pendants, earpieces, etc. In general,the term “UE” or “UE device” can be broadly defined to encompass anyelectronic, computing, and/or telecommunications device (or combinationof devices) which is easily transported by a user and capable ofwireless communication.

Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless cellular telephone system or radio system.

Processing Element—refers to various elements or combinations ofelements. Processing elements include, for example, circuits such as anASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), portions or circuits ofindividual processor cores, entire processor cores, individualprocessors, programmable hardware devices such as a field programmablegate array (FPGA), and/or larger portions of systems that includemultiple processors.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a broadcast/broadband convergencesystem 100 delivering content from content sources to User Equipment(UE) devices. This system provides significantly enhanced mobilecapability to the broadcast industry, an additional revenue source forthe broadcast industry, additional spectrum for the broadband industrythrough sharing, and an enriched user experience. All existing businessmodels may be preserved so that there is no need for a synchronizedtransition from today's system to the new system.

The broadcast/broadband convergence network architecture applies tovarious 2G/3G/4G broadband networks and various broadcast networks. LTEand ATSC convergence will be used as an example. The communication linksbetween systems in FIG. 1 are logical connections, not necessarily adedicated physical link. For example, many communication links may takeplace over a common network (e.g., the internet), many systems mayco-locate or merge as one, and both distributed and centralized controlschemes are allowed. The purpose of FIG. 1 is to illustrate thefundamental operating principle of the network. Various configurationsand topologies are possible to achieve the same goal.

As shown in FIG. 1, the broadcast/broadband convergence networkarchitecture may be organized in terms of the following categories:content source 101, core network 102, random access network(RAN)/spectrum 103 and user equipment 104.

Content providers such as content provider 108 may supply content (e.g.,video information) to the IP Core 106. Spectrum exchange 110 may sendand receive content and/or other information to/from the Internet 112.Wireless broadband network core 112 may receive content from wirelessbroadband carriers 114.

The IP Core 106 (or broadcast exchange) may provide content streams totransmitters such as VHF transmitters 116 and UHF transmitters 118. TheVHF transmitters generate VHF broadcast signals (e.g., ATSC signals orATSC 3.0 signals) such as signal 126. The UHF transmitters generate UHFbroadcast signals (e.g., ATSC signals or ATSC 3.0 signals) such assignal 128.

Wireless broadband network core 112 (e.g., LTE Evolved Packet Core) mayuse wireless broadband base stations such as base station 120 to sendand receive data streams to/from users. Thus, the wireless base stationsprovide wireless broadband service 134 (such as LTE) to user devices.

Unlicensed spectrum 136 may be used to communicate with users. Forexample, the broadband network core 112 and/or Internet 114 may send andreceive data streams to/from user devices via WiFi access points such asaccess point 122 and/or TV whitespace equipment 124. Furthermore,dynamic spectrum access 138 (e.g., cognitive radio) may be employed.

Spectrum exchange 110 may mediate the sale or exchange of spectralresources made available by broadcasters to wireless broadbandproviders. Spectrum exchange couples to IP Core 106 and to wirelessbroadband network core 112. The IP Core 106 may also couple moredirectly to the broadband network core 112, bypassing spectrum exchange110, e.g., allowing the broadband network core 112 to off-load data forbroadcast by one or more broadcast networks.

The broadband network core 122 may off load content to the IP Core 106,so the content will be broadcasted by one or more transmitters of thebroadcast network, e.g., as illustrated by spectrum sharing 130. In thisform a spectrum sharing, a broadcast network transmits off-loadedcontent on behalf a broadband network. Thus, the broadcast network maygenerate revenue from broadband networks by providing such off loadingservice. The off-loaded content may also be regular broadcast contentwhich may be received by the UE 104 without explicit control orfinancial contribution of the broadband providers, thus effectivelydelivering content to the UE using broadcast spectrum while preservingbroadband spectrum for other use (e.g., unicast).

The broadcast network may also make portions of the radio spectrumavailable to the broadband network when the broadcast network does notplan to use that spectrum for its broadcast transmissions. Thus, the IPCore 106 may communicate to the spectrum exchange informationidentifying such available portions of the radio spectrum. The spectrumexchange 110 may maintain a database of such available portions and makethem available for sale to or exchange with broadband networks. Thus,the broadcast networks are able to generate revenue from portions ofspectrum even during times they are not actively broadcasting on thoseportions. This feature is represented in FIG. 1 by spectrum sharing 132.

A wide variety of UE devices 104 may be served by the convergence system100, e.g., devices such as televisions 140, laptop computer 142, desktopcomputers 144, tablets 146, mobile devices 147, devices embedded inautomobiles 148 or other vehicles, etc. As indicated at 150, in someembodiments, the signal source (among the various possible sources) maybe transparent to viewers; handoff may be seamless; the system providesfrequency agile and waveform agile signal transmissions; the waveformsmay be software defined.

Broadcast Mode

The broadcast mode in the Internet age is essentially the conventionalbroadcast paradigm with the option of using existing wireless broadbandnetwork as the uplink (e.g., Wi-Fi, LTE, whitespace, etc.). The twotransports operate independently with the broadcaster solely occupyingthe broadcast spectrum and transmitting to a broadcast receiver in theUE. The UE may contain a wireless broadband transceiver, capable of twoway DL/UL communication, operating on licensed and/or unlicensedbroadband spectrum.

There are three usage scenarios in the broadcast mode:

a) Non-real time uplink: The user runs a broadcast TV application in theUE, which controls the broadcast receiver similar to watchingconventional TV. The TV application collects statistics and other dataon the viewing habits of the user. When the device is connected to abroadband network, the collected data will be transferred to abroadcaster server for rating, targeted advertisement, and other datamining purposes.

b) Real-time uplink: A broadband connection is used for uplink in a realtime interactive mode. User feedback and broadcast response to userfeedback are instantaneous. The full internet experience, such as socialnetworking, communication, and data access, is available to the userwhile viewing broadcast content. Association between the broadcasttransport and the broadband return channel are accomplished viaestablished internetworking protocols between the broadband andbroadcast networks.

c) No uplink: The user opts out of the uplink option. No datacollection, no interactivity, and no uplink. Like a conventional TV.

Broadcast/Broadband Spectrum Sharing Mode

Broadcast and broadband spectrum utilization are in generalcomplementary. For example, the peak broadband spectrum usage is usuallyduring day time business hours, whereas the peak broadcast revenuegeneration occurs in evening prime time. From the user perspective,despite the preference for on-demand content in general, time-sensitivebroadcast contents such as live events, news, and first airing ofpopular TV shows are exceptions to the on-demand preference. Spectrumsharing provides additional revenue opportunity for broadcaster tomaximize the return by applying the valuable spectrum to carryingdifferent payloads at different times.

Broadcast Exchange

In one spectrum sharing mode, wireless broadband network content whichcan benefit from the economics of the broadcast paradigm, can beoff-loaded to a converged broadcast network as proposed by the SinclairBroadcast Group. For example, see the following:

-   1) Mark A. Aitken, Mike Simon, “Exploring Innovative Opportunities    in ATSC Broadcasting,” ATSC Symposium on Next Generation Broadcast    Television, 15 Feb. 2011, Rancho Mirage, Calif.-   2) Mark A. Aitken, “Broadcast Convergence—Bringing efficiency to a    new platform,” Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers    (SMPTE) 2011 Annual Conference, Oct. 25-27, 2011, Hollywood, Calif.-   3) Mark A. Aitken, “Broadcast—The Technology and the Medium,”    Sinclair Broadcast Group, 61^(st) Annual IEEE Broadcast Symposium,    Alexandria, Va., 19-21 Oct. 2011.

A broadcast exchange is created to enable the aggregation of broadcastspectrum and/or broadcast infrastructure (e.g., transmission towers) bybroadcasters in a given area, ranging from a regional basis (e.g., aDesigned Market Area (DMA)) to a national basis. The Broadcast Exchangeis responsible for delivering content from member broadcasters using thepool of scarce spectrum resources in the most efficient and effectiveway in terms of coverage, revenue, (e.g., people served/Mhz,revenue/Mhz) and Quality of Service (QOS).

The aggregation of spectrum to form a Broadcast Exchange is through thevoluntary cooperation/agreement of the broadcasters. Some broadcastersmay prefer to maintain the current broadcast model. Therefore, thebroadcast/broadband convergence network is designed to support allexisting business models. The centralized control scheme of a BroadcastExchange is not a requirement to benefit from the enhanced mobilereception, tiered services (e.g., from free advertisement supportedcontent to paid subscription), mobile-friendly, and internet-friendlyuser experience offered by the new broadcast/broadband convergencenetwork.

In the current broadcast model, a broadcaster occupies an entirebroadcast channel (e.g., 6 MHz in the US) for its exclusive use 27×7even though, for many TV stations, a small number of programs generatethe majority of revenue and profit. In the new model, the BroadcastExchange is aimed at eliminating the inefficiency in spectrum usage,providing maximum flexibility in delivering content through VHF(optimized for fixed devices) or UHF frequency/transmitters (optimizedfor mobile devices), and maximizing the revenue potential of thebroadcast spectrum for its members.

For instance, additional bandwidth can be freed up through the adoptionof next generation codec and an efficient market-driven mechanism todistribute available bandwidth to different content by adjusting theresolution (from SD, HD, to 4K and beyond). Some broadcasters may chooseto broadcast content only during prime time hours and free up spectrumin the pool for other uses during day time to generate more revenue. TheBroadcast Exchange server effectively repacks the broadcast spectrum todeliver contents efficiently for its member broadcasters and allocatesurplus spectrum for other applications including, but not limited to,4G data offload for wireless carriers, non-real time data delivery,delivery mechanism for other content providers besides broadcasters,Over the Top (OTT) content owners, public services, etc.

Spectrum repacking or repacking TV stations into a smaller block ofspectrum is historically the function of a regulatory agency (e.g., FCCin the US) through a legislative process. Unlike spectrum repackingthrough legislative means, the centralized and coordinated spectrumrepacking performed by the Broadcast exchange is dynamic and marketdriven. In addition to improving the efficiency of spectrum usage forbroadcast, broadcast exchanges' control of real time dynamic spectrumrepacking is useful to creating high value surplus spectrum with minimuminterference for non-broadcast use when low power broadband network mayhave to operate in the vicinity of high power broadcast network.

Spectrum Exchange

In another spectrum sharing mode, broadcasters will be the primary userof the broadcast spectrum. Broadcasters can share the broadcast spectrumwith wireless broadband carriers by shutting off the transmitter andrelinquishing control of the spectrum to wireless broadband. Unlikeconventional spectrum sharing schemes, spectrum sensing is not requireddue to the coordination between broadcast and broadband network servers.

Spectrum sharing is enabled whenever spare capacity becomes available onthe broadcast transport spectrum. Whenever possible, the broadbandnetwork aggregates capacity from any channels designated as available(i.e. unused by the broadcast network). The availability of unusedbroadcast channels may vary by market/geography as well as by day of theweek and/or time of day. When vacant, the broadcast channel capacity canbe redirected to augment the broadband channel capacity until the use ofthat channel spectrum is reclaimed by the broadcast network forbroadcast use.

The spectrum exchange acquires wholesale spectrum blocks from thebroadcast exchange and makes them available for broadband use in blocksof variable time duration. The length of the blocks, the schedule ofchannel availability, and the number of channels available in anygeographic location may be determined statically in advance ordynamically in real time based on market conditions.

When the spectrum is under the control of wireless broadband, wirelessoperators have the option of using the broadcast towers as macro towersin addition to other towers under carrier control. (The term “macrotower” refers to a high power base station covering a large macro-cell.)In the case of LTE, wireless broadband operators also have the option touse LTE, LTE+eMBMS, or LTE+enhanced eMBMS.

Carrier Aggregation

Carrier aggregation is the mechanism by which the broadcast spectrum isapplied to off-load wireless traffic for broadband carriers. In the caseof a broadcast spectrum restricted to transmit only, it will be used tooffload only the down link (DL) traffic for the broadband network. Thereis no technical limitation on using broadcast spectrum for both uplinkand downlink offload should the legislation allow such application.

The off-load spectrum, controlled by an entity which may not be thecarrier, can be used to serve multiple wireless broadband carriers. Thisis different from the conventional notion that all spectrum used incarrier aggregation is controlled by a single carrier for the solepurpose of serving the network of that single carrier.

Programmable Radio Chipset for Next Generation UE

FIG. 2B depicts the architecture of a new generation user equipment (UE)250 to fully leverage the capability of the broadcast/broadbandconvergence network. Unlike previous architectures such as thearchitecture of UE 200 shown in FIG. 2A, the proposed architectureenables evolution over time, similar to the evolution of the LTEwireless broadband standard. (LTE is an acronym for “Long TermEvolution”.) By using a software-defined architecture, the UE 250 isadaptable to evolving standards. One goal of the proposed architectureis to be the last TV transition, at least in our life time. Byharmonizing with LTE, the incremental cost of supporting both broadcastand broadband is minimal, and the same chipset can be used in all fixedand mobile devices.

As shown in FIG. 2A, today's radio chipset 202 includes a multi-band LTEtransceiver 204, an LTE baseband accelerator 206, a multicoreapplication processor 208, an ATSC tuner/receiver 210 and an ATSCdemodulator 212. The external ATSC tuner/receiver incurs added bill ofmaterials (BOM) cost, royalty, circuit board real estate and powerconsumption). LTE RF support is limited to a few bands (out of 40⁺ 3GPPLTE bands). Baseband processing is mostly hardwired circuitry withlimited flexibility. Broadcast and broadband are separate functions.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the new generation chipset 252 includes aprogrammable transceiver 254, a programmable baseband processor 256 anda multicore application processor 258. The programmable basebandprocessor 256 supports multiple waveforms by configuring or programmingthe same hardware resources. (For example, ATSC 3.0 and LTE at the sametime. The programmable baseband processor enables a single chipsolution. Thus, no separate ATSC or broadcast support chip is required.)The RF transmitter/receiver 254 is programmable, to support all bandsfrom VHF/UHF to a minimum of 5 GHz. The new generation chipset 252includes a software stack to support broadcast/broadband convergence andoff-load.

User Experience

From the user's perspective, the conventional notion of tuning into a TVchannel becomes irrelevant. By invoking an application in a mobiledevice, the user is presented with a list of programs and/or contenthe/she can choose from without any reference to a fixed channel number.Through the dynamic allocation of spectrum for content delivery by thebroadcast exchange, the channel by which a content stream is deliveredmay change from time to time and made transparent to the user, includingseamless handoff between channels and/or between broadcast and broadbandinfrastructure.

The viewing experience on fixed receivers (e.g., connected TV) isequally enriched by the “TV Everywhere” capability of thebroadcast/broadband convergence network. Without the power and sizeconstraints of mobile devices, fixed receivers enable ultra highresolution display, terrestrial internet connectivity, in addition towireless connectivity, massive storage, and the interconnection of alldevices (including mobile devices and connected automotive) at home.

Enhanced eMBMS

The following sections describe proposed enhancements to the evolvedMultimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (eMBMS) standard, introduced toenable broadcast service delivery over LTE. The proposed serviceenhancements can be categorized as follows.

(1) PHY extensions (i.e., physical layer extensions) aimed at improvingcompatibility with broadcast system objectives, including those relatedto single frequency network (SFN) deployment.

(2) Carrier Aggregation (CA) adapted to enable use of spectrum deemedidle by the broadcast core network, to augment broadband servicedelivery.

eMBMS System Modifications to Meet Broadcast Performance Objectives

The list of proposed eMBMS modifications comprises multiple PHYenhancements aimed at positioning LTE more favorably with regard to keybroadcast performance objectives. This disclosure pertains to eMBMStransport intended for broadcast/multicast service delivery, either inLTE spectrum or spectrum aggregated from unused broadcast channels asdescribed later in the section on Dynamic Spectrum Sharing. The proposedenhancements are not intended to affect non-eMBMS LTE transportassociated with unicast service delivery.

The proposed PHY is not a mandatory replacement of existing standardsused for one-to-many transport in broadcast spectrum though aspects ofthis proposed PHY might be used in defining new broadcast operatingmodes and standards. For example, the current 8 vsb based ATSC standardcan co-exist with broadcast TV based on the proposed PHY which issuperior to current ATSC in many ways. Should the proposed PHY beadopted as part of the new ASTC standard, such arrangement will enable agradual transition at a significantly lower transition cost. Newgeneration receivers will support both broadcast streams while legacyreceivers will continue to receive only the existing ATSC broadcast.

Devised as an extension of the LTE PHY, eMBMS retains many of theattributes sought in developing a flexible unicast transport placingsignificant emphasis on low latency and shortened signaling intervals.Given this objective, LTE operates on intervals associated with 1 mssubframe (SF) boundaries consuming an integer number of OFDM symbols perSF. Conventional broadcast standards, e.g. DVB, operate on a much longertime scale admitting variability in symbol duration, i.e. employingdifferent FFT sizes, to afford differing amounts of delay spreadtolerance. LTE on the other hand, uses fixed symbol durations, insteadextending the signal bandwidth as the FFT size increases.

The proposed PHY extensions have been introduced to address thefollowing perceived deficiencies with the existing eMBMS standard:

-   -   Increased Delay Spread Tolerance    -   Improved Burst Noise Immunity    -   Higher Bitrate/Increased Throughput        Delay Spread Tolerance

Single frequency networks simultaneously broadcast identical signalcontent from multiple towers in a tightly time synchronous manner. SFNsare used in a broadcast arrangement to improve reception by devices atthe cell edge. The signal components from multiple base stations appearlike multipath at a receiving station located in the overlap regionbetween cells. As a result, SFN deployment requires additional delayspread tolerance as an integral part of the underlying signal transport.

Delay spread tolerance is determined directly by the length of the guardinterval (GI), inserted ahead of each OFDM symbol in the form of acyclic prefix (CP). The cyclic prefix may be expressed as a percentageof the usable OFDM symbol duration T_(FFT). The FFT duration,corresponding to the OFDM symbol contribution prior to adding the CP, isin turn computed as the inverse of the subcarrier spacing, i.e.T_(FFT)=1/Δf. Reducing the subcarrier spacing increases the symbolduration and hence the duration of the resulting GI. This is a basicprincipal employed by numerous OFDM systems, e.g. LTE, DVB, HD Radio.

eMBMS System Configuration

The existing eMBMS standard specifies two broadcast operating modes,both of which employ extended CP length. The resulting delay spreadtolerance is shown below for the prescribed range in subcarrier spacing:

Extended CP, 15 kHz subcarrier spacing: 16.67 μs delay spread tolerance;

Extended CP, 7.5 kHz subcarrier spacing: 33 μs delay spread tolerance;

Proposed PHY Extensions

The proposed PHY extensions introduce multiple CP lengths along withincreased variability in subcarrier spacing to allow increased delayspread tolerance, taking into account the following guiding principlesto facilitate future harmonization with prevailing LTE PHYspecifications:

1) Sampling rates remain an integer multiple of 3.84 MS/s (derived fromthe W-CDMA chipping rate).

2) FFT dimensions taken from the existing set {NFFT: 128, 256, 512,1024, 1536, 2048} and integer multiples thereof, computed as 2 to somepower, i.e. NFFT=2^(m), m=7:11, with the exception of 1536 which iscomputed as NFFT=3×2^(m), m=9.

3) Spectrum is added in integer multiples of a fixed Resource Block (RB)bandwidth of 180 kHz.

4) The system employs an integer number of OFDM symbols including CP perframe (10 ms). The existing LTE PHY employs an integer number of OFDMsymbols per 1 ms subframe. Relaxing this requirement may be useful inachieving the required delay spread tolerance without incurringsignificant CP overhead.

Table 1 and Table 2 (i.e., FIGS. 3 and 4) extend the PHY to includemultiple candidate CP lengths, expressed as a percentage of the FFTduration, as well as additional scaling in subcarrier spacing to extendthe symbol duration beyond that afforded by the existing eMBMS PHYspecification. Other configurations may prove viable. However, the basicprinciple holds: extending the symbol duration by scaling (e.g.,decreasing) the subcarrier spacing then selecting the CP length todeliver the desired delay spread tolerance with minimal overhead. Muchlike DVB, the proposed PHY enables multiple FFT dimensions (i.e., FFTsizes) to increase the subcarrier spacing for a given signal bandwidth.Unlike DVB, the base configuration may begin with 15 kHz subcarrierspacing in any signal bandwidth and scale from there (upward in FFTdimension, or equivalently, downward in subcarrier spacing).

The eMBMS as currently specified in LTE employs extended CP only withtwo choices in subcarrier spacing: 15 or 7.5 kHz, affording delay spreadtolerance on the order of 16.67 or 33.33 μs, respectively, as indicatedin the two shaded columns of Table 1 (i.e., FIG. 3), whereas delayspread for a terrestrial broadcast network can approach 200 μs, giventower separations on the order of 200 or 300 km. With the proposed PHYextensions, guard intervals (GIs) exceeding the required broadcast delayspread tolerance can be readily achieved while reducing CP overhead forhigher system throughput.

The existing frame structure restricts use of eMBMS to a subset of theavailable subframes (SFs) per frame, to accommodate paging, synch andcommon signaling that would otherwise be obscured by broadcasttransmissions. In the subsection entitled “System Throughput”, weexamine the potential to relax this restriction, enabling eMBMS in 8 of10 SFs, provided the affected signaling is duly accounted for. The setof available system parameters given this consideration becomes afunction the SF allocation, i.e. 6 vs. 8 of 10 SFs, requiring additionalsignaling to specify the revised eMBMS configuration.

The last row (i.e., the “Modulus” row) of Tables 1 and 2 indicates theconfigurations in which the number of symbols per frame is divisible by6 or 8 or both 6 and 8. Selecting a configuration which conforms toeMBMS in 6 (or 8) of 10 available SFs enables greater flexibility inmapping broadcast services to the eMBMS PHY.

Signaling

The introduction of new system parameters requires correspondingsignaling extensions in order to make the new parameter settingsdiscoverable by a UE. The Master Information Block (MIB) contains alimited number of the most frequently used parameters essential forinitial cell access. The MIB conveys parameters governing the RFconfiguration, e.g. signal bandwidth and CP type, i.e. normal orextended. Cell configuration is conveyed in System Information Blocks(SIBs) multiplexed at the physical layer with user data on the DownlinkShared Channel. The set of configurable system parameters shall beextended to enable additional flexibility in system deployment asillustrated in Table 3 (i.e., FIG. 5).

Burst Noise Immunity

The lower VHF band is plagued by man-made and machine noise manifestingin bursts of appreciable duration. Conventional broadcast standardsemploy long bit/symbol interleavers to overcome the burst noisephenomenon, which would undermine the low latency objectives set forLTE.

In some embodiments, the present patent incorporates unsolicited HybridAutomatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmission in place of explicitbit/symbol interleaving, to improve burst noise immunity. It furtherenables automatic retransmissions scheduled in advance, to permitbroadcast operation in Un-Acknowledged Mode (UAM). Based on existing PHYmechanisms, the aim is to extend the data interval beyond the burstduration, avoiding the need to introduce mechanisms that would undulycompromise other aspects of the LTE PHY operation, namely low latencybased on a 1 ms SF interval.

The procedure for unsolicited HARQ Retransmission can be summarized asfollows. See FIG. 6.

(A) Follow the original transmission with successive retransmissions,scheduled automatically based on existing HARQ mechanisms, i.e.,Redundancy Version (RV) and Circular Buffer Rate Matching.

(B) Operating in UAM, provide incremental redundancy in unsolicited(i.e., scheduled) retransmissions affording time diversity in a mannersimilar to traditional interleaving.

(C) Combine observations of the original information and code bits atthe receiver with code bits recovered from previous transmissions orretransmissions, providing added burst noise immunity.

-   -   Ex 1: three successive transmissions (one original+two        retransmissions) each at rate R=1 results in an overall coding        rate of R=1/3 while providing 3·8+1=25 ms equivalent interleaver        depth;    -   Ex 2: coding rates greater than 1, e.g. R=5/3, might be        introduced to enable the max=4 retransmissions, again yielding        an overall R=1/3 coding rate while providing (1+4)·8+1=41 ms        equivalent interleaver depth.        The Turbo Encoder 302 output bits are parsed into Systematic        bits 304 reflecting the original information bit stream, Partiy0        306 representing one half of the parity bits, and Parity1 308        representing the remaining parity bits. Systematic bits are        interleaved separately 310 and passed to the systematic        transport buffer 316. Parity0 and parity 1 and interleaved        together and passed to a parity transport buffer 318. With each        Redundancy Version (RV), bits are output in a circular fashion        320 from the systematic transport buffer 316 and parity        transport buffer 318.        System Throughput

Throughput in an OFDM system is determined by the number of modulatedsubcarriers, the selected modulation and coding scheme (MCS) andlayering of the PHY transport less framing overhead, e.g., referencesubcarriers, special transmit symbol/symbol periods set aside forsynchronization and signaling. Proposed extensions aimed at improvingsystem throughput include the following:

(1) Increased throughput can be achieved with the introduction of tworecognized methods:

(1.1) Higher Order Modulation: enable 256-QAM over the existing 64-QAMmaximum DL modulation for use in circumstances where adequate RX SNR isavailable.

(1.2) Multiple Antenna Techniques: provide spatial diversity gainextending multiple antenna techniques to the transmission modessupported in eMBMS.

(1.2.1) Space Frequency Block Coding (SFBC) enables net improvements inRX SINR (Signal-to-Interference plus Noise Ratio). SFBC comprisesmultiple transmissions from a single eNB, coded across subcarriers toenable multiple uncorrelated, independent streams delivered in parallelto the RX device. The approach results in increased data rates at thecell edge in the same manner as SFN used by conventional broadcastnetworks without the need to coordinate among multiple transmit towers.

(1.2.2) SFBC+Frequency Switched Transmit Diversity (FSTD) enables SFBCovercomes the limitation that no orthogonal codes exist for antennaconfigurations beyond 2×2. FSTD adds switched time diversity enablingSFBC up to 4 transmit antennas.

(1.2.3) 2-Layer Spatial Multiplexing increases the peak throughput onthe order of ˜2× on top of that achieved through higher ordermodulation.

(2) Signal Bandwidth: for broadcast deployment, signal bandwidth will beincremented in integer RBs (180 kHz) up to the available broadcastchannel bandwidth, i.e. 6/7/8 MHz. DSS, enabling LTE operation inspectrum deemed idle for broadcast services, may retain the existing LTEsignal bandwidths and RB allocations to simplify system deployment.

(3) Framing Overhead: Restricting eMBMS transmission to 6 of 10 SFs perframe significantly limits throughput capacity as compared to competingbroadcast standards. Scheduling paging in the SFs already carryingprimary and secondary synchronization signals (PSS/SSS) eliminates theneed to restrict additional SFs, extending use of eMBMS in 8 of 10 SFsfor a net increase (33%) in system throughput. PSS, SSS and PBCH, whichcarry the MIB, are protected by prohibiting eMBMS transmission in SFs 0,5 (rendered in bold type in FIG. 7), the same as with the existingstandard. However, confining paging to SFs 0, 5 as well recoversadditional capacity, extending use of eMBMS to include SFs 4, 9, asdepicted in FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 7, an eMBMS frame 400 comprises twenty slots numbered 0through 19. Two consecutive slots form a subframe. Slots 0, 4, 9, and 10are unavailable to carry MBMS traffic as they contain paging information404 delivered to individual user devices. Portions of subframe 0 andsubframe 5 are reserved for transmission of PSS, SSS and PBCH 410. Theassociated subframes are unavailable for broadcast transport furtherlimiting broadcast capacity. Confining paging 404 to slots 0 and 10,reclaims the subframes containing slots 4 and 9 for MBMS transportincreasing broadcast capacity with eMBMS. Thus, subframes 412 a andsubframes 412 b are available for broadcast with enhanced eMBMS aspresently disclosed.

Gains in system throughput due to the proposed changes are summarized inTables 4 and 5 (i.e., FIGS. 8 and 9).

Summary of Proposed PHY Enhancements

[Enh 1]: Multiple candidate CP lengths to minimize overhead in achievingincreased delay spread tolerance. Extend the MIB/SIB parameter setsaccordingly.

[Enh 2]: Additional scaling in subcarrier spacing to increase symbolduration for a fixed signal bandwidth. Extend the MIB/SIB parameter setsaccordingly.

[Enh 3]: Extend the DL and UL control channel signaling to accommodateadditional CP lengths.

[Enh 4]: Extend the DL and UL control channel signaling to accommodateadditional range in subcarrier spacing.

[Enh 5]: Schedule paging and other signaling in the SFs that carryprimary and secondary sync, increasing the number of SFs available foreMBMS, from 6 to 8 per frame. Revise the system configuration advertisedon MIB/SIB, instructing user devices to confine their use of paging andother control signaling, accordingly.

[Enh 6]: Vary the set of available system parameters, i.e., CP lengthand subcarrier spacing, as a function of the prescribed eMBMS SFallocation, permitting use of 6 or 8 (or other) out of 10 SFs per framewhile retaining full use of extensibility in system parameters affectingdelay spread tolerance.

[Enh 7]: Employ Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissionsin place of bit/symbol interleaving, to improve burst noise immunitywithout compromising low latency principles set forth for LTE.

[Enh 8]: Modify HARQ to enable automatic (i.e., prescheduled)retransmission, providing incremental redundancy when operatingbroadcast services in Un-Acknowledged Mode (UAM).

[Enh 9]: Enable higher order modulation (e.g., 256-QAM over existing64-QAM) for increased maximum system capacity.

[Enh 10]: Extend multiple antenna techniques to the transmission modessupported in eMBMS (e.g. Space-Frequency Block Coding (SFBC),SFBC+Frequency Switched Transmit Diversity (FSTD), 2-layer SpatialMultiplexing (SM)) to improve RX SINR and/or downlink throughput,maximizing system capacity.

[Enh 11]: Extend the signal bandwidth in integer multiples of a fixedResource Block (RB) structure (e.g., 180 kHz) to extend the existingbandwidth definitions, e.g. 5 MHz, to more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHzbroadcast channel bandwidths. This modification is intended forscenarios where LTE or some variant is used to replace the broadcasttransport in unoccupied television channels.

Dynamic Spectrum Sharing in a Converged Broadcast-Broadband Transport

Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) introduces a new mode of spectrumsharing, capable of harnessing unused TV spectrum, to boost LTE downlinkdata throughput. DSS may use a particular variant of carrier aggregation(CA) that adds channels aggregated from broadcast (BC) radio spectrum inthe downlink direction, operating alongside two-way transport separatedby a fixed duplex arrangement in broadband (BB) spectrum as depicted inFIG. 10.

The broadcast network 502 continually monitors channel utilization,reporting channels available 506 for carrier aggregation to thetransport network 503 via the internet 504. The broadcast return channel508 is also provided via the internet connection 504. Portions ofbroadband spectrum 511 are allocated to DL and UL channels separated bya fixed duplex spacing 512. Additional DL capacity 510 is allocated inaggregated broadcast spectrum 513. The allocated broadcast spectrum isassigned to broadcast RX or unicast carrier aggregation (CA) 514 undercontrol of the transport network. Unicast RX 516 is assigned to DLbroadband spectrum. Unicast TX or broadcast return channel 518 isassigned to UL broadband spectrum.

Spectrum Server

DSS is enabled by a spectrum server, the responsibilities of whichinclude: monitoring traffic demand from registered eNBs; querying thebroadcast exchange for channel availability; and then harmonizing thedemand for traffic with the available spectrum.

Upon registering a new eNB, the spectrum server:

i. determines the level of CA support, i.e. supported bands, maximumnumber of component carriers (CCs) and maximum aggregate bandwidth;

ii. establishes the CC update frequency and the maximum duration of anaggregate channel grant, after which access must be re-negotiated; and

iii. establishes the update frequency used in querying the broadcastexchange for channel availability.

On connection establishment, the eNB in turn determines from a UE its CAcapabilities, the details of which are outlined later in this document.

Converged BC-BB Architecture

FIG. 11 shows a simplified network architecture illustrating cooperationbetween broadcast and broadband networks to dynamically enable spectrumsharing. The connections between systems denote logical connections andcan be physically implemented in various ways.

Administered in this way, with channel availability communicatedperiodically from a broadcast gateway to a gateway servicing thebroadband network, broadcast spectrum utilization is maximized, enablingincreased broadband unicast throughput anytime spare capacity isidentified in a given geographical area.

As shown in FIG. 11, the converged transport network 600 with spectrumsharing includes a plurality of UEs (suggested by UEs 602 and 604)connected via broadband (BB) and/or broadcast (BC) spectrum to aplurality of eNBs (suggested by eNBs 606 and 608). Each eNB is connectedto an associated MME 610 and 612 via respective S1-Control interfaces(each denoted S1-C). S11 from each MME represents path switching andradio bearer control information. User plane data (denoted S1-U) passesthrough the serving gateway (SGW) as configured by the spectrum server614. A Packet Data Network (PDN) GW 616 provides access to the IPNetwork 618. The Broadcast GW 622 relays channel availability to theSpectrum Server 614 based on access policy/rules/control communicatedvia the internet 620. Broadcast transport streams are sent to the GW 622from the broadcast network 620 then routed 626 to broadcast modulators628 and 630. Each modulator 628 and 630 transmit to TV receivers(suggested by receivers 632 and 634) via broadcast spectrum.

Channel Availability

The capabilities of each registered eNB is consulted in determining howto allocate spectrum deemed available by the broadcast exchange,designated (1/0) for each broadcast channel on a per band basis. Table 6(i.e., FIG. 12) depicts a sample channel encoding, organized in arow/col arrangement for each band allocation in a given regulatorydomain. Channel availability for North America can be communicated in 16bytes: 82 channels requiring 128-bits assessed across 7 bands. Theentire mapping is advertised by the broadcast exchange on each queryfrom the spectrum server.

Radio Resource Control (RRC) Procedures

Channel access is granted in LTE based on radio bearers in accordancewith Radio Resource Control (RRC) procedures [5].

LTE supports two states: RRC_Idle in which no signaling radio bearershave been established, i.e. no RRC connection; RRC_Connected in which aSignaling Radio Bearers (SRB) has been established, used to transmit RRCand NAS messages:

-   -   (a) SRB0: RRC message using CCCH logical channel.    -   (b) SRB1: is for transmitting NAS messages over DCCH logical        channel.    -   (c) SRB2: is for high priority RRC messages. Transmitted over        DCCH logical channel.

RRC procedures include the following based on designated bearerassignments:

-   -   (1) Paging: transmit paging info/system info to UE in RRC_IDLE        state.    -   (2) RRC Connection Establishment: establish SRB1, initiated by a        UE when the upper layers request a signaling connection in        RRC_IDLE mode.    -   (3) RRC Connection Reconfiguration: establish/modify/release        radio bearers after connection establishment or during handover.    -   (4) RRC Connection Re-Establishment: re-establish RRC        connection, reactivating SRB1.    -   (5) Initial Security Activation: activate security upon RRC        establishment, eNB initiated.    -   (6) RRC Release: release SRBs.        Bearer Establishment

A registered eNB makes extensive use of RRC Connection Reconfigurationto assign additional radio bearers allocated from aggregated broadcastcarriers. The MAC acts as a multiplexer, assigning each componentcarrier its own PHY layer entity with associated channel coding, HARQ,data modulation and resource mapping. The PHY in turn relates thecomponent carriers according to an enumerated list of available RBs upto the channel bandwidth of their RF carrier(s). Each RF carrier isidentified by a unique E-UTRA Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number(EARFCN) which specifies the UL/DL carrier center frequencies.

In 3GPP vernacular, carrier aggregation from idle broadcast spectrum isconsidered interband, meaning that the primary component carrier (PCC)residing in a defined LTE band is coupled with a secondary componentcarrier occupying broadcast spectrum. This designation will bemaintained regardless of the proximity of the respective componentcarrier bands to honor the network separation.

Interband aggregation between broadcast and broadband spectranecessitates definition of new band combinations, as carrier demand fora BC|BB arrangement has as yet not been clearly articulated. (New bandcombinations may be needed pairing broadcast spectrum, i.e. VHF(low/high) as well as the various UHF bands, with selected LTE bands,e.g. Band 1 (IMT 2100), Band 7 (2.6 GHz), Band 13 (US 700 c Upper), Band14 (U.S. Public Safety).) Carrier aggregation is only activated inconnected mode. A UE preferably has completed the basic accessprocedures, i.e. cell search and cell selection, acquisition of systeminformation and initial random access, each of which is conducted on thePCC for DL and UL. The SCC introduces additional transmission resourcesonce in the connected state that are associated with the PCC forsignaling/control.

UE Capabilities Assessment

EPS bearer establishment, which follows contention resolution as acomponent of the random access procedure, includes a UE capabilityassessment to determine among other things supported frequency bands andbandwidth classes, either (non-)contiguous intraband and interbandcarrier aggregation. Table 7 (i.e., FIG. 13) shows the supportedbandwidth classes as of Release 11.

In addition, the UE reports support for carrier aggregation in a givenfrequency band (intraband) or band combination (interband).

System Design Considerations

Signaling

Signaling for carrier aggregation involves select layers of the protocolstack: RRC, MAC and PHY. The remaining layers are unaffected. Forinstance, each user device is connected to the serving cell via its PCC.Non-Access Stratum (NAS) functionality such as security key exchange andmobility management are provided by the primary serving cell (PCell).All secondary component carriers are regarded simply as providingadditional transmission resources. As a result, carrier aggregation istransparent to the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) and RadioLink Control (RLC) layers as well as NAS. The only required change toRLC is that the buffer size must expand to support higher data rates aswould be the case for higher order MIMO as well.

PSS and SSS are sent on the PCC as well as any SCCs to enable detectionand synchronization in each serving cell. A maximum of four secondarycells (SCell) can be activated. For each cell, its physical identity issent including the EARFCN indicating the explicit downlink carrierfrequency along with common information applicable to all devices towhich this carrier will be added, e.g. bandwidth, PHICH and PDSCHconfiguration, and dedicated information applicable to a particularterminal, e.g. activation and use of cross-carrier scheduling.

Channel Assignment

The spectrum server is responsible for periodically revising channelassignments at each of its registered eNBs as the broadcast gatewayupdates the availability of aggregate spectrum. The task of channelassignment must take several considerations into account in doling outnew spectrum:

(A) Aggregate the available broadcast spectrum into contiguous bands toaccount for the likelihood that a user device, associated with aparticular secondary cell, has a limited number of radio receivers tosupport carrier aggregation.

(B) Assign the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixed RBbandwidth, designating the aggregate channel bandwidth according thechannel at the aggregated band center. For instance, given channels 51,52, 53 available as a contiguous block, assign 98 RBs (i.e. 3-channels,each yielding 6 MHz=18 MHz/180 kHz minus 2 RBs to preserve band edgespacing=100−2=98, where RB bandwidth is 180 kHz) numbered +/−49 oneither side of the channel 52 center frequency. In other words, the 98RBs may be numbered {−49, −48, −47, . . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . . , 47,48}. However, a wide variety of other numbering schemes are possible andcontemplated.

(C) Define a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrieraggregation from either an odd or even number of the available broadcastchannels. If channels 51, 52, 53, 54 are available as a contiguousblock, assign 132 RBs (i.e. 4-channels, each yielding 6 MHz=24 MHz/180kHz minus band edge spacing) numbered +/−66 on either side of thefrequency separating channels 52 and 53.

(D) Designate the two modes as band center oriented (BCO) correspondingto an odd number of aggregated channels or band edge oriented (BEO)corresponding to an even number of aggregated channels.

(E) Determine the number of aggregate RBs as a function of the broadcastchannel bandwidth, i.e. allocated in multiples of 6, 7 or 8 MHz,depending on the regulatory domain.

(F) Number the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of afixed RB bandwidth.

(G) Allocate the available RBs on either side of the band centerfrequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of the DL OFDMsignal.

(H) Limit the number of RBs available in a given aggregate bandwidth topreserve required band edge spacing. The number of RBs allocated oneither side of the aggregated band center is determined by the number ofavailable channels (N) times the signal bandwidth (per regulatorydomain) less the spacing required at the band edge divided by the fixedRB bandwidth, i.e.,floor((N×6/7/8−2×BandEdgeSpacing)/RB_BW/2).The notation “6/7/8 MHz” means “6 MHz or 7 MHz or 8 MHz”.Cross-Carrier Scheduling

Cross-carrier scheduling, invoked via RRC signaling, enables the UE todecode PDCCH exclusively on the PCC. PDCCH signaling on PCC is also usedto recover resource allocations associated with SCC. Support forcross-carrier scheduling required extending the Downlink ControlInformation (DCI) formats to include a Carrier Indication Field (CIF).This new field (3-bits) enables the UE to distinguish which componentcarrier a scheduling decision is intended for. PDSCH-Start is signaledto the UE during activation of cross-carrier signaling to indicate howmany OFDM symbols (1-4 depending on signal bandwidth) are reserved atthe start of each subframe for control data. This information would beconveyed ordinarily in PCFICH. However, with cross-carrier scheduling,the UE no longer decodes PCFICH on the secondary component carrier.

Synchronization

Periodicity for querying the broadcast network and revising access toavailable channel spectrum should be synchronized to 1 PPS GPS time.Synchronization of the broadband system is afforded by alignment withrespect to LTE frame boundaries, occurring every 10 ms. Similar timealignment can be created on the broadband network side.

Table 7 and FIG. 14

Table 7 below lists a broadband downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) channelassignment. FIG. 14 describes the cell configuration parametersassociated with that channel assignment.

TABLE 7 Requested EARFCN: 5230 EARFCN Downlink EARFCN Uplink Band NameMode DL (MHz) UL (MHz) 13 US 700c FDD 5230 751.0 23230 782.0 UpperSummary of Proposed DSS Enhancements

[Enh 12]: Leverage unused TV spectrum, i.e. channels deemed available bythe broadcast network operator, to boost LTE downlink throughoutcapacity.

[Enh 13]: Devise a compact encoding used to communicate channelavailability, designated (1/0) per channel, per band in a givenregulatory domain from the broadcast network operator to the spectrumserver.

[Enh 14]: Define new band combinations pairing broadcast channels(presumably by channel number according to the existing numberingscheme) with LTE bands, e.g. CA_52A_13A, indicating interband carrieraggregation, i.e. channel 52 and band 13 (US 700 c Upper), supportingbandwidth class A (N_(RB,agg)≤100, maximum of 1 CC).

[Enh 15]: Aggregate the available broadcast spectrum into contiguousbands to reduce the number of radio receivers needed at the end userdevice.

[Enh 16]: Assign the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixedRB bandwidth, designating the aggregate channel bandwidth according thechannel at the aggregated band center.

[Enh 17]: Define a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrieraggregation from either an odd or even number of the available broadcastchannels.

[Enh 18]: Designate the two modes as band center oriented (BCO)corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels and band edgeoriented (BEO) corresponding to an even number of aggregated channels.

[Enh 19]: Determine the number of aggregate RBs as a function of thebroadcast channel bandwidth, i.e. 6, 7 or 8 MHz, depending on theregulatory domain.

[Enh 20]: Number the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multipleof a fixed RB bandwidth.

[Enh 21]: Allocate the available RBs on either side of the band centerfrequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of the DL OFDMsignal.

[Enh 22]: Limit the number of RBs available in a given aggregatebandwidth to preserve required band edge spacing.

REFERENCES

-   [1] Mark A. Aitken, Mike Simon, “Exploring Innovative Opportunities    in ATSC Broadcasting,” ATSC Symposium on Next Generation Broadcast    Television, 15 Feb. 2011, Rancho Mirage, Calif.-   [2] Mark A. Aitken, “Broadcast Convergence—Bringing efficiency to a    new platform,” SMPTE 2011 Annual Conference, Oct. 25-27, 2011,    Hollywood, Calif.-   [3] Mark A. Aitken, “Broadcast—The Technology and the Medium.”    Sinclair Broadcast Group, 61^(st) Annual IEEE Broadcast Symposium,    Alexandria, Va., 19-21 Oct. 2011.-   [4] 3GPP TS 36.441, “Layer 1 for interfaces supporting Multimedia    Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) within E-UTRAN (Release 11),”    V.11.0.0, September, 2012.-   [5] PD 3606.7630.62, “Carrier aggregation—(one) key enabler for    LTE-Advanced,” Rohde & Schwarz Technical Article, V.01.01, October,    2012.    Spectrum Server

In one set of embodiments, a spectrum server 1500 may be configured toinclude one or more processors 1510 and memory 1520, as shown in FIG.15. The spectrum server 1500 may be used to allocate available spectrumresources under carrier aggregation. (The spectrum server 1500 may alsoinclude any subset of the features, elements and embodiments describedabove.) The memory stores program instructions, wherein the programinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the oneor more processors to perform the operations (a) through (c) as follows.

(a) The processor(s) 1510 may receive information indicating broadcastspectrum (e.g., one or more channels, not necessarily contiguous) madeavailable by one or more broadcast networks.

(b) The processor(s) 1510 may assign at least a portion (perhaps all) ofthe available broadcast spectrum to a wireless broadband network inresponse to a request from the wireless broadband network, wherein saidassigned at least a portion is defined by an interval of resource blocknumbers (or by one or more intervals of resource block numbers)according to a partition of the available broadcast spectrum intoresource blocks of fixed width.

(c) The processor(s) 1510 may transmit a message to the wirelessbroadband network, wherein the message identifies the interval ofresource block numbers (or, the one or more intervals of resource blocknumbers).

In some embodiments, the program instructions are configured so that oneor more of the following conditions is true:

the resource blocks of said partition are distributed symmetrically withrespect to a center of the available broadcast spectrum;

if the one or more resource blocks defining said at least a portion areodd in number, said assigning includes inserting a half-subcarrier shiftof those one or more resource blocks, wherein said insertion avoidssignal power being allocated to a DC subcarrier when the wirelessbroadband network generates a downlink signal based on said at least aportion;

the resource blocks of said partition exclude edge portions of theavailable broadcast spectrum, to avoid interference with transmissionson other bands of radio spectrum.

In another set of embodiments, the program instructions, when executedby the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors toperform the operations (1) through (3) as follows.

(1) The processor(s) 1510 may combine channels of broadcast spectrummade available by one or more broadcast networks to form a contiguousband. See, e.g., the section above entitled “Channel Assignment”. Insome embodiments, this combining step may be omitted.

(2) The processor(s) 1510 may assign a contiguous portion of thecontiguous band to a wireless broadband network in response to a requestfrom the wireless broadband network, wherein the contiguous portion isdefined by an interval of resource block numbers according to apartition of the contiguous band into resource blocks of fixed width.The resource blocks of the partition may be consecutively numbered inorder of frequency.

(3) The processor(s) 1510 may transmit a message to the wirelessbroadband network, wherein the message identifies the interval ofresource block numbers. For example, the interval [n_(A),n_(B)] ofresource block numbers may be identified by its end points n_(A) andn_(B). The wireless broadband network is configured to aggregate theassigned contiguous portion with broadband spectrum already belonging tothe wireless broadband network when performing downlink transmissionsvia one or more base stations.

In other embodiments, the processor(s) may assign and transmit one ormore portions of a set of available broadcast spectrum, where the one ormore portions do not necessarily form a contiguous whole, i.e., theremay be gaps between some or all of the portions.

In some embodiments, the program instructions are configured so that oneor more of the following conditions is true:

(a) the resource blocks of said partition of the contiguous band aredistributed symmetrically with respect to a center of the contiguousband;

(b) if the resource blocks defining said contiguous portion are odd innumber, said assigning includes inserting a half-subcarrier shift ofthose resource blocks, wherein said insertion avoids signal power beingallocated to a DC subcarrier when the wireless broadband networkgenerates a downlink OFDM signal based on the contiguous portion;(c) the resource blocks of said partition of the contiguous band excludeedge portions of the contiguous band, to avoid interference withtransmissions on other bands of radio spectrum.

The spectrum server 1500 may be referred to as a “spectrum exchange”,and may operate as an intermediary between one or more broadcastnetworks and one or more wireless broadband networks. The spectrumserver may interact with a broadcast exchange 1530 representing the oneor more broadcast networks, and with a wireless broadband network core1535 representing one or more broadband networks. (In the context ofLTE, the broadband core network 1535 may be an Evolved Packet Core(EPC). In alternative embodiments, the spectrum server 1500 may be partof a broadcast network or part of a broadband network.

The spectrum server 1500 may receive messages from the broadcastexchange 1530 indicating portions of available broadcast spectrum, i.e.,portions of spectrum one or more broadcast networks are willing to makeavailable (and not use themselves) at least for a period of time and atleast in some geographical region. The spectrum server adds informationidentifying the one or more portions to its database of availablebroadcast spectrum resources. The spectrum server 1500 also may receivemessages from the broadband network core 1535 requesting access toportions of available broadcast spectrum.

In some embodiments, the program instructions, when executed by the oneor more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one ormore of the following operations, denoted A through G.

A. The processor(s) 1510 may combine the available broadcast spectruminto contiguous bands. (For example, the spectrum server may sense thatcertain broadcast channels made available by the broadcast exchange canbe joined to form a contiguous band equal to the union of the channels.)The action of combining available broadcast spectrum may account for thelikelihood that a user device, associated with a particular secondarycell, has a limited number of radio receivers to support carrieraggregation. (As used herein, the term “secondary cell” means anyconfigured carrier other than the serving carrier where the user devicegets its system information.)

B. The processor(s) may assign the available spectrum to the broadbandnetwork core in integer multiples of a fixed resource block (RB)bandwidth. (In some embodiments, the aggregate channel bandwidth may bedesignated according to the channel at the aggregated band center.)Information identifying the assignment may be transmitted to thebroadband network. The assignment and transmission may occur in responsea request from the broadband network.

C. The processor(s) may employ a channel numbering scheme that accountsfor carrier aggregation from either an odd or even number of theavailable broadcast channels. See the section above entitled “ChannelAssignment”.

D. The processor(s) may employ the above two modes, with the first modebeing band center oriented (BCO), corresponding to an odd number ofaggregated channels, and the second mode being band edge oriented (BEO),corresponding to an even number of aggregated channels.

E. The processor(s) may determine the number of aggregate RBs as afunction of the broadcast channel bandwidth (e.g. allocated in multiplesof 6, 7 or 8 MHz, depending on the regulatory domain).

F. The processor(s) may number the aggregated spectrum up to an eveninteger multiple of a fixed RB bandwidth, and allocate the available RBson either side of the band center frequency to avoid signal power in theDC subcarrier of the DL OFDM signal.

G. The processor(s) may limit the number of RBs available in a givenaggregate bandwidth to preserve required band edge spacing, where thenumber of RBs allocated on either side of the aggregated band center isdetermined, e.g., by the number of available channels (N) times thesignal bandwidth (per regulatory domain) less the spacing required atthe band edge divided by the fixed RB bandwidth.

In one set of embodiments, a base station 1600 may wirelesslycommunicate with one or more user devices 1625, as shown in FIG. 16.(The base station 1600 may include any subset of the features, elementsand embodiments described above.) The base station 1600 may beconfigured for operation as part of a wireless broadband network,enabling dynamic aggregation of spectrum resources.

The base station 1600 may include circuitry configured to wirelesslytransmit a downlink signal (e.g., OFDM signal) to one or more devicesusing aggregated spectrum resources including a portion of broadbandspectrum and a portion of broadcast spectrum. The portion of broadcastspectrum has been made available by one or more broadcast networks anddynamically assigned to the wireless broadband network by a spectrumserver, e.g., as variously described above. The portion of broadcastspectrum may be specified by the spectrum server as an interval ofresource block numbers (or, as one or more intervals of resource blocknumbers) according to a partition of a contiguous band of the broadcastspectrum into resource blocks of fixed width, e.g., as variouslydescribed above. In some embodiments, the portion of broadcast spectrumis a contiguous portion.

In some embodiments, if the one or more resource blocks defining saidportion of broadcast spectrum are odd in number, said circuitry isconfigured to insert a half-subcarrier shift of those one or moreresource blocks, wherein said insertion avoids signal power beingallocated to a DC subcarrier of the downlink signal.

In some embodiments, the resource blocks of said partition exclude edgeportions of the contiguous band, to avoid interference withtransmissions on other bands of radio spectrum.

In some embodiments, the base station may receive information from thebroadband network core 1535 indicating spectrum resources that the basestation may use to wirelessly communicate with the user device(s) 1625.As described above, those spectrum resources may include broadcastspectrum resources allocated by the spectrum server.

In some embodiment, the circuitry is configured to wirelesslycommunicate (transmit and/or receive signals) with the one or more userdevices 1635 (e.g., mobile devices and/or non-mobile devices) inaccordance with a system that performs one or more the following:

(a) combine the available broadcast spectrum into contiguous bands;

(b) assigns the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixedresource block (RB) bandwidth, designating the aggregate channelbandwidth according to the channel at the aggregated band center;

(c) employs a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrieraggregation from either an odd or even number of the available broadcastchannels;

(d) employs the two above modes, with the first mode being band centeroriented (BCO), corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels,and the second mode being band edge oriented (BEO), corresponding to aneven number of aggregated channels;

(e) determines the number of aggregate RBs as a function of thebroadcast channel bandwidth (e.g., allocated in multiples of 6, 7 or 8MHz, depending on the regulatory domain);

(f) numbers the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of afixed RB bandwidth, and allocate the available RBs on either side of theband center frequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of theDL OFDM signal;

(g) limits the number of RBs available in a given aggregate bandwidth topreserve required band edge spacing, where the number of RBs allocatedon either side of the aggregated band center is determined, e.g., by thenumber of available channels (N) times the signal bandwidth (perregulatory domain) less the spacing required at the band edge divided bythe fixed RB bandwidth.

In some embodiments, the circuitry includes one or more RF transceivers,one or more baseband processors, and one or more control processors.

In one set of embodiments, a device 1700 (e.g., a mobile device ornon-mobile device) may be configured to enable dynamic aggregation ofspectrum resources. The device may include circuitry configured towirelessly communicate with one or more base stations (such as basestation 1600) associated with a wireless broadband network. (The device1700 may also include any subset of the features, elements andembodiments described above.)

The circuitry may be configured to receive a downlink signal (e.g., OFDMsignal) transmitted by a first of the one or more base stations, wherethe downlink signal uses aggregated spectrum resources including aportion of broadband spectrum and a portion of broadcast spectrum. Theportion of broadcast spectrum has been made available by one or morebroadcast networks and dynamically assigned to the wireless broadbandnetwork by a spectrum server. The portion of broadcast spectrum isspecified by the spectrum server as an interval of resource blocknumbers (or, as one or more intervals of resource block numbers)according to a partition of a contiguous band of the broadcast spectruminto resource blocks of fixed width. In some embodiments, the portion ofbroadcast spectrum is a contiguous portion.

In some embodiments, if the resource blocks defining said portion ofbroadcast spectrum are odd in number, the circuitry is configured toinsert a half-subcarrier shift of those resource blocks, wherein saidinsertion avoids signal power being allocated to a DC subcarrier of thedownlink signal.

In some embodiment, the circuitry may be configured to wirelesslycommunicate (receive and/or transmit) with one or more base stations inaccordance with a system that performs one or more of the following:

(a) combines the available broadcast spectrum into contiguous bands;

(b) assigns the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixedresource block (RB) bandwidth, designating the aggregate channelbandwidth according to the channel at the aggregated band center;

(c) employs a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrieraggregation from either an odd or even number of the available broadcastchannels;

(d) employs the above two modes, with the first mode being band centeroriented (BCO), corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels,and the second mode being band edge oriented (BEO), corresponding to aneven number of aggregated channels;

(e) determines the number of aggregate RBs as a function of thebroadcast channel bandwidth (e.g. allocated in multiples of 6, 7 or 8MHz, depending on the regulatory domain);

(f) numbers the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of afixed RB bandwidth, and allocate the available RBs on either side of theband center frequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of theDL OFDM signal;

(g) limits the number of RBs available in a given aggregate bandwidth topreserve required band edge spacing, where the number of RBs allocatedon either side of the aggregated band center is determined, e.g., by thenumber of available channels (N) times the signal bandwidth (perregulatory domain) less the spacing required at the band edge divided bythe fixed RB bandwidth.

In some embodiment, the circuitry includes one or more RF transceivers,one or more baseband processors, and one or more control processors.

Base Station for Dynamic Carrier Aggregation

In one set of embodiments, a base station 1800 for use as part of awireless broadband network may include one or more primary-band (PB)radios 1810, one or more additional radios 1815 and a controller 1820,as shown in FIG. 18. (The base station 1800 may also include any subsetof the features, elements and embodiments described above.) The basestation is configured to communicate with wireless devices via wirelesstransmission medium 1820.

Each of the one or more PB radios 1810 is configured to transmit atleast over a respective one of one or more primary bands (e.g., one ormore bands owned by a wireless broadband carrier). Furthermore, each ofthe one or more additional radios 1815 has a carrier frequency that isdynamically tunable or programmable to any of multiple frequency bandswithin the radio spectrum.

The controller 1820 configured to: (a) receive information identifying afirst dynamically-allocated spectrum resource; (b) tune or program afirst of the one or more additional radios to a first carrier frequencycorresponding to the first dynamically-allocated spectrum resource; (c)receive a data stream from an infrastructure network; (d) divide thedata stream into a first set of substreams; and (d) direct a paralleltransmission of the substreams of the first set using respectively theone or more PB radios and the first additional radio. The one or more PBradios may transmit over the one or more primary bands while the firstadditional radio transmits over the first dynamically-allocated spectrumresource.

In some embodiments, each of the PB radios has a carrier frequency thatis dynamically tunable or programmable to any of multiple frequencybands.

In some embodiments, at least one of the PB radios has a carrierfrequency that is dynamically tunable or programmable to any of themultiple frequency bands.

In some embodiments, the multiple frequency bands include the one ormore primary bands and one or more additional bands.

In some embodiments, the one or more additional radios comprise aplurality of additional radios, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: (1) tune or program each of the additional radios to arespective carrier frequency corresponding to a respectivedynamically-allocated spectrum resource; (2) divide the data stream intoa second set of substreams; and (3) direct the parallel transmission ofthe substreams of the second set using respectively the one or more PBradios and the additional radios.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to: receiveinformation identifying a second dynamically-allocated spectrumresource; tune or program a second of the additional radios to a secondcarrier frequency corresponding to the second dynamically-allocatedspectrum resource; divide the data stream into a second set ofsubstreams; and direct the parallel transmission of the substreams ofthe second set using respectively the one or more PB radios and thefirst and second additional radios.

In some embodiments, the information identifying the firstdynamically-allocated spectrum resource includes: information indicatingthe first carrier frequency of the first dynamically-allocated spectrumresource, and information indicating a first period of time over whichthe first dynamically-allocated spectrum resource has been allocated tothe base station.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to generate OFDMsymbol streams based respectively on the data substreams, where saidparallel transmission includes parallel transmission of the OFDM symbolsstreams using respectively the one or more PB radios and the firstadditional radio.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to generate symbolstreams based respectively on the data substreams, wherein thecontroller is configured to generate symbols of the symbol streams witha value of cyclic prefix (CP) length that is programmably-selected froma plurality of CP length options.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to provide additionalscaling in OFDM subcarrier spacing to increase symbol duration for afixed signal bandwidth (e.g., additional scaling as compared to thescaling already required by an existing wireless communication standardsuch as LTE).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to schedule paging andother signaling in subframes (SFs) that carry primary and secondary sync(e.g., to increase the number of SFs available for eMBMS).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured use the systemconfiguration advertised on MIB/SIB in order to instruct user devices toconfine their use of paging and other control signaling.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to vary one or moreavailable system parameters (e.g., parameters such as CP length andsubcarrier spacing) as a function of a prescribed eMBMS SF allocation(e.g., permitting the use of 6 or 8 or other out of 10 SFs per framewhile retaining full use of extensibility in system parameters affectingdelay spread tolerance).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to employ HybridAutomatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissions in place of bitinterleaving or symbol interleaving (e.g., to improve burst noiseimmunity without compromising low latency requirements set forth forLTE).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to employ a modifiedversion of HARQ, to enable automatic (i.e. prescheduled) retransmissionproviding incremental redundancy when operating broadcast services inUn-Acknowledged Mode (UAM).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to perform modulationusing modulation orders that are higher than an existing LTE standard(e.g., 256-QAM over existing 64-QAM) in order to increase maximum systemcapacity.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to employ multipleantenna techniques for one or more or all of the transmission modessupported in eMBMS (e.g., to improve RX SINR and/or downlink throughput,maximizing system capacity).

In some embodiments, the first dynamically-allocated spectrum resourceis specified in terms of one or more resources blocks conforming to aresource block structure of fixed length in the frequency domain.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to operate withbandwidth definitions that are extended as compared to existingbandwidth definitions for wireless broadband communication, wherein theextended bandwidth definitions more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHz broadcastchannel bandwidths.

Device for Dynamic Carrier Aggregation

In one set of embodiments, a device 1900 may include one or moreprimary-band transceivers 1910, one or more receivers 1915 and acontroller 1920, as shown in FIG. 19. (The device 1900 may also includeany subset of the features, elements and embodiments described above.)The device 1900 is configured to communicate via wireless transmissionmedium 1920.

Each of the one or more PB transceivers 1910 is configured to wirelesslycommunicate with a base station of the wireless broadband network usinga respective one of one or more primary bands within a radio spectrum.Furthermore, each of the one or more receivers 1915 has a carrierfrequency that is dynamically tunable or programmable to any of multiplefrequency bands within the radio spectrum.

The controller 1920 is configured to: (a) receive one or more networkdata streams from a base station of the wireless broadband network usingthe one or more PB transceivers; (b) tune or program a first of the oneor more receivers to a carrier frequency corresponding to a firstcurrently-available spectrum resource of the radio spectrum in responseto receiving a first message from the base station, wherein the firstmessage identifies the first currently-available spectrum resource; (c)receive a first additional network data stream from the base stationusing the first receiver after having tuned or programmed the firstreceiver, and (d) combine the one or more network data streams and thefirst additional network data stream to obtain an aggregate data stream.The first receiver may receive the first additional network data streamover the first currently-available spectrum resource while the one ormore PB transceivers 1910 receive the one or more network data streamsover the one or more primary bands.

In some embodiments, the device is a mobile device.

In some embodiments, the device is a fixed device (e.g., a television).

In some embodiments, one or more broadcast transmitters in ageographical neighborhood of the base station are controlled by abroadcast exchange, wherein the broadcast exchange has agreed not tobroadcast using the first currently-available spectrum resource in thegeographical neighborhood of the base station over a specified period oftime.

In some embodiments, one or more broadcast transmitters in ageographical neighborhood of the base station are controlled by anindividual broadcaster, wherein the individual broadcaster has agreednot to broadcast using the first currently-available spectrum resourcein the geographical neighborhood of the base station over a specifiedperiod of time.

In some embodiments, the one or more PB radios and the one or moreadditional radios each conform to a common hardware design, wherein eachof the one or more PB radios is programmed so that it is allowed tooperate in the respective primary band.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to supply theaggregate data stream to an application executing on the device.

In some embodiments, the multiple frequency bands include at least theVHF band and the UHF band.

In some embodiments, the one or more receivers comprise a plurality ofreceivers, wherein the controller is further configured to: (1) tune orprogram each of the receivers to a respective carrier frequencycorresponding to a respective currently-available spectrum resource inresponse to receiving a respective message from the base station,wherein the respective message identifies the respectivecurrently-available spectrum resource; (2) for each of the receivers,receive a respective additional network data stream from the basestation using the respective receiver; and (3) combine the one or morenetwork data streams and the additional network data streams to obtain asecond aggregate data stream.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to: tune orprogram a second of the receivers to a carrier frequency correspondingto a second currently-available spectrum resource of the radio spectrumin response to receiving a second message from the base station, whereinthe second message identifies the second currently-available spectrumresource; and receive a second additional network data stream from thebase station using the second receiver after having tuned or programmedthe second receiver.

In some embodiments, the first message identifying the firstcurrently-available spectrum resource is received from the base stationusing at least one of the one or more PB transceivers.

In some embodiments, the first message includes: information indicatingthe carrier frequency of the first dynamically-allocated spectrumresource, and information indicating of a first period of time overwhich the first dynamically-allocated spectrum resource has beenallocated for use by the mobile station or the base station.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to extract data fromsymbols from a symbol stream using a value of cyclic prefix (CP) lengththat is programmably-selected from a plurality of CP length options,wherein the symbol stream is acquired by the first receiver.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to provide additionalscaling in OFDM subcarrier spacing (e.g., additional scaling as comparedto the scaling already required by an existing wireless communicationstandard such as LTE).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to vary one or moreavailable system parameters (e.g., parameters such as CP length andsubcarrier spacing) as a function of a prescribed eMBMS subframeallocation.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to employ HybridAutomatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissions in place of bitinterleaving or symbol interleaving (e.g., to improve burst noiseimmunity without compromising low latency requirements set forth forLTE).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to employ a modifiedversion of HARQ, to enable automatic (i.e. prescheduled) retransmission,providing incremental redundancy when broadcast services are operated inUn-Acknowledged Mode (UAM).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to performdemodulation using constellation orders that are higher than an existingLTE standard (e.g., 256-QAM over existing 64-QAM) in order to increasemaximum system capacity.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to employ multipleantenna techniques for one or more or all of the transmission modessupported in eMBMS (e.g., to improve RX SINR and/or downlink throughput,maximizing system capacity).

In some embodiments, the first dynamically-allocated spectrum resourceis specified in terms of one or more resources blocks conforming to aresource block structure of fixed length in the frequency domain.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to operate withbandwidth definitions that are extended as compared to existingbandwidth definitions for wireless broadband communication, wherein theextended bandwidth definitions more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHz broadcastchannel bandwidths.

Device—Spectrum Sharing Using Broadcast Infrastructure

In one set of embodiments, a device 2000 may include one or moreprimary-band transceivers 2010, one or more receivers 2015 and acontroller 2020. (The device 2000 may also include any subset of thefeatures, elements and embodiments described above.) The device 2000 mayoperate as part of a wireless broadband network and simultaneouslyoperate to receive one or more broadcast signals transmitted by abroadcast network including one or more broadcast transmitters.

Each of the one or more PB transceivers 2010 is configured to wirelesslycommunicate with a base station of the wireless broadband network usinga respective one of one or more primary bands within a radio spectrum.Furthermore, each of the one or more receivers 2015 has a carrierfrequency that is dynamically tunable or programmable to any of multiplefrequency bands within the radio spectrum.

The controller may be configured to: (a) receive one or more networkdata streams from a base station 2030 of the wireless broadband networkusing the one or more PB transceivers 2010; (b) tune or program a firstof the one or more receivers 2015 to a first broadcast frequencycorresponding to a first broadcast signal transmitted by a first of thebroadcast transmitters (e.g., by broadcast transmitter 2035); and (c) inresponse to said tuning or programming, recover a first broadcast datastream from the first broadcast signal using the first receiver, whereinthe first broadcast data stream comprises data that has been off-loadedby the wireless broadband network to the broadcast network for broadcastvia at least one of the one or more broadcast transmitters (e.g., viathe first broadcast transmitter 2035). In some embodiments, the firstreceiver may receive the first broadcast signal while the one or more PBtransceivers 2919 receive the one or more network data streams over theone or more primary bands.

In some embodiments, the device is a mobile device.

In some embodiments, the device is a fixed device (e.g., a television).

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to provide the one ormore network data streams and the first broadcast data stream to one ormore applications executing on the device.

In some embodiments, the controller is further configured to display avideo signal via a display device (e.g., a display device that isincorporated in the device or coupled to the device), wherein the videosignal is generated from the first broadcast data stream.

In some embodiments, the broadcast network dynamically controls theallocation of broadcast content streams to spectrum resources forbroadcast via the one or more broadcast transmitters.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to tune or program thefirst receiver to the first broadcast frequency in response to userinput selecting a particular content item from a displayed contentguide.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to: collect statisticson a user's viewing of content provided via the broadcast transmitters;and transmit the statistics to the wireless network.

In some embodiments, said transmission of the statistics is performedusing the one or more PB transceivers. In some embodiments, saidtransmission of the statistics is performed using a WiFi transmitter(that is included as part of the device or coupled to the device). Insome embodiments, said transmission of the statistics is performingusing a radio configured to transmit over unlicensed radio spectrum.

In some embodiments, the controller is configured to: perform saidreceiving of the one or more network data streams using OFDM; andperform said recovering of the first broadcast data stream using OFDM.

Method for Operating a Spectrum Server

In one set of embodiments, a method 2100 for operating a spectrum servermay include the operations shown in FIG. 21. (The method 2100 may alsoinclude any subset of the features, elements and embodiments describedabove.) The method may be performed to facilitate the sale of availablespectrum resources to wireless broadband providers. The method may beperformed by a processor (or by a set of one or more processors) of thespectrum server, in response to the execution of stored programinstructions. The sale may occur in any of a variety of forms, e.g.,dynamic, pre-negotiated, or pre-arranged. For example, an auction countsas a form a sale.

At 2110, the processor may receive a request for the purchase or use ofa spectrum resource, wherein the request is received from a wirelessbroadband provider (e.g., via a computer network) or an entityrepresenting the wireless broadband provider.

At 2115, the processor may identify a particular spectrum resource in alist of spectrum resources that are not currently being used by abroadcast network, wherein the broadcast network dynamically controlsthe allocation of broadcast content streams to spectrum resources fortransmission via a plurality of broadcast transmitters. For example, theprocessor may access memory to obtain information from the list.

At 2125, the processor may transmit (e.g., via the computer network)information authorizing the wireless broadband provider to use (e.g., totransmit and/or receive on) the particular spectrum resource.

The spectrum server may include network interface hardware to interfacewith one or more networks, to facilitate communication with the wirelessbroadband provider.

In some embodiments, the method may also include receiving payment, thepromise of payment, or other consideration from the wireless broadbandprovider. This step may occur in any order relative to theabove-described steps 2110, 2115 and 2125. Indeed, payment may occurafter (e.g., long after) those steps have been completed. In someembodiments, some form of exchange may be performed between thebroadcaster(s) and the wireless broadband network, e.g., instead ofpayment or in addition to payment.

In some embodiments, the method 2100 may also include removing theparticular spectrum resource from the list, e.g., in response to saidreceiving payment or promise of payment. Alternatively, the list may beupdated to indicate the particular spectrum resource has been sold orallocated to the wireless broadband provider, e.g., for a period oftime.

In some embodiments, for each of the spectrum resources on the list, thelist includes an indication of a period of time over which the broadcastnetwork agrees not to use the spectrum resource.

In some embodiments, for each of the spectrum resources on the list, thelist includes an indication of a geographical location of one of thebroadcast transmitters through which the broadcast network agrees not totransmit on the spectrum resource.

In some embodiments, the method 2100 may also include: purchasing ablock of available spectrum resources from the broadcast network; andadding the available spectrum resources to the list.

In some embodiments, in response to said transmitting authorizinginformation, the wireless broadband provider is configured to instructone or more base stations to start transmitting wirelessly on theparticular spectrum resource.

In some embodiments, the spectrum server is configured to perform one ormore of the following: (a) aggregate the available broadcast spectruminto contiguous bands (e.g., to account for the likelihood that a userdevice, associated with a particular secondary cell, has a limitednumber of radio receivers to support carrier aggregation); (b) assignthe available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixed resource block(RB) bandwidth, designating the aggregate channel bandwidth according tothe channel at the aggregated band center, (c) employ a channelnumbering scheme that accounts for carrier aggregation from either anodd or even number of the available broadcast channels; (d) employ thetwo modes, with the first mode being band center oriented (BCO),corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels, and the secondmode being band edge oriented (BEO), corresponding to an even number ofaggregated channels; (e) determine the number of aggregate RBs as afunction of the broadcast channel bandwidth (e.g. allocated in multiplesof 6, 7 or 8 MHz, depending on the regulatory domain); (f) number theaggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of a fixed RBbandwidth, and allocate the available RBs on either side of the bandcenter frequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of the DLOFDM signal; (g) limit the number of RBs available in a given aggregatebandwidth to preserve required band edge spacing, where the number ofRBs allocated on either side of the aggregated band center isdetermined, e.g., by the number of available channels (N) times thesignal bandwidth (per regulatory domain) less the spacing required atthe band edge divided by the fixed RB bandwidth.

Dynamic Spectrum Purchase Server for Wireless Network

In one set of embodiments, a method 2200 may include the operationsshown in FIG. 22. (The method 2200 may also include any subset of thefeatures, elements and embodiments described above.) The method may beemployed to operate a server as part of a wireless broadband network, inorder to facilitate the purchase (e.g., the dynamic purchase) ofspectrum resources. Base stations of the wireless broadband network mayoperate in the same geographical region as a broadcast network includinga set of broadcast transmitters. The method 2200 may be performed by aprocessor (or a set of one or more processors) operating in response tothe execution of stored program instructions. The purchase may occur inany of a variety of forms, e.g., dynamic, pre-negotiated, orpre-arranged.

At 2210, the processor may receive a first message indicating that agiven one of the base stations in the wireless network currently needsadditional bandwidth.

At 2215, in response to receiving the first message, the processor maysend a request to a broadcast server (e.g., the above-described spectrumserver 1500) for purchase or use of a currently-available spectrumresource in a geographical neighborhood of the given base station.

At 2220, the processor may receive from the broadcast server a secondmessage identifying a particular currently-available spectrum resource,wherein the broadcast network has agreed that it will not transmit usingthe particular currently-available spectrum resource within thegeographical neighborhood of the given base station.

In some embodiments, the method 2200 may also include sendinginformation indicating payment or a promise of payment or otherconsideration to the broadcast server for use of the particularcurrently-available spectrum resource.

In some embodiments, the method 2200 may also include sending a thirdmessage to the given base station, wherein the third message identifiesthe particular currently-available spectrum resource and enables thegiven base station to start transmitting using the particularcurrently-available spectrum resource.

In some embodiments, the first message is received from a load controlserver that monitors the state of loading of base stations with thebroadband wireless network.

In some embodiments, the request sent to a broadcast server includes anindication of the location of the given base station.

In some embodiments, the second message received from the broadcastserver includes: information indicating a frequency range occupied bythe particular currently-available spectrum resource; and informationindicating a time period over which the broadcast network has agreed notto transmit within the geographical neighborhood of the given basestation.

Method for Operating an Advertising Server as Part of a Wireless Network

In one set of embodiments, a method 2300 may involve the operationsshown in FIG. 23. (The method 2300 may also include any subset of thefeatures, elements and embodiments described above.) The method 2300 maybe used to operate an advertising server as part of a wireless network,in order to provide targeted advertising to a device, where the deviceis configured for communication with a wireless broadband network andfor reception from broadcast transmitters of a broadcast network. Themethod may be performed by a processor (or a set of one or moreprocessors) in response to the execution of stored program instructions.

At 2310, the processor may receive viewing information from the device,wherein the viewing information characterizes behavior of a user of thedevice in viewing broadcast content through one or more of the broadcasttransmitters.

In some embodiments, the processor may add the viewing information to auser-specific record stored in a memory medium.

At 2320, the processor may select advertising for the user of the devicebased on the viewing information (or, based on a current state of theuser-specific record).

At 2325, the processor may transmit (or direct the transmission of) acontent stream corresponding to the selected advertising to the devicevia a currently-serving base station of the wireless network.

In some embodiments, the device is a mobile device.

In some embodiments, the device is non-mobile (e.g., a television).

In some embodiments, the method may also include receiving viewerinformation (e.g., location of the device, activities performed by theuser, browsing history of the user, social media info, or sensor data,etc.) from the device. The selection step (b) may be performed based onthe viewer information and/or the above-described viewing information.

In some embodiments, the device transmits the viewing information to theadvertising server using a currently-serving base station of thewireless network.

In some embodiments, the device transmits the viewing information to theadvertising server using a WiFi connection between the device and a WiFiaccess point.

In some embodiments, the device transmits the viewing information to theadvertising server using a transmission over unlicensed spectrum (e.g.,WiFi or white space).

In some embodiments, the viewing information includes one or more of:(1) an indication of a broadcast content item currently being viewed bythe user of the device; (2) a title of a broadcast content itemcurrently being viewed by the user of the device; (3) a duration ofviewing of a broadcast content item that has been broadcast by thebroadcast network; (4) a list of broadcast content items viewed by theuser of the device.

In some embodiments, the user-specific record includes descriptiveinformation (e.g., age, sex, categories of interest, educationalbackground, income range, etc.) corresponding to the user of the device.

In some embodiments, the action of selecting advertising for the user isbased on a predetermined optimal mapping between user characterizinginformation and advertising content items. The optimal mapping may bedetermined, e.g., based on statistical optimization techniques usingfeedback information on actual user purchases.

In some embodiments, the method 2300 may also include: receiving arequest for purchase of user-specific viewing information via a network(e.g., the Internet); transmitting data from one or more ofuser-specific records stored in a memory medium to the requestingentity; and receiving payment or promise of payment or otherconsideration from the requesting entity for purchase of theuser-specific viewing information.

In some embodiments, the method 2300 may also include: receiving arequest for purchase of right to advertise to the user of the device(e.g., from an entity that has previously purchased user-specificviewing information, and concluded that it would be worth advertisingdirectly to the user); receiving payment or promise of payment from therequesting entity for purchase of the right to advertise; receiving anadvertising content stream from the requesting entity; and transmittingthe advertising content stream to the device via the currently-servingbase station of the wireless network.

Receiver System for Receiving Broadcast TV Signals

In one set of embodiments, a receiver system 2400 for receivingbroadcast TV signals may include a radio receiver 2410 and circuitry2415, as shown in FIG. 24. (The receiver system 2400 may also includeany subset of the features, elements and embodiments described above.)

The radio receiver 2410 is tunable or programmable to any of multiplefrequency bands. Moreover, the radio receiver is configured to receive abroadcast signal that is broadcasted by a transmitter.

The circuitry 2415 is configured to recover a video data stream from thereceived broadcast signal. The circuitry is further configured tosupport one or more of the features (A) through (K) described below.

(A) The circuitry 2415 may extract data from OFDM symbols using a cyclicprefix (CP) length that is selected from multiple candidate CP lengths,to minimize overhead in achieving increased delay spread tolerance,where the CP length is signaled by the base station using extendedMIB/SIB parameter sets.

(B) The circuitry 2415 may employ additional scaling in subcarrierspacing to increase symbol duration for a fixed signal bandwidth, wherethe additional scaling is signaled by the base station using extendedMIB/SIB parameter sets.

(C) The circuitry 2415 may respond to extended DL and UL control channelsignaling to accommodate additional CP lengths.

(D) The circuitry 2415 may respond to extended DL and UL control channelsignaling to accommodate additional range in subcarrier spacing.

(E) The circuitry 2415 may monitor paging and other signaling in thesubframes (SFs) that carry primary and secondary sync in response to arevised system configuration advertised by the base station on theMIB/SIB, wherein the revised system configuration instructs user devicesto confine their use of paging and other control signaling to saidsubframes, thus increasing the number of SFs available for eMBMS.

(F) The circuitry 2415 may determine the set of available systemparameters (e.g., CP length and subcarrier spacing) based on theprescribed eMBMS SF allocation as signaled by the base station.

(G) The circuitry 2415 may accept Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ)retransmissions in place of bit/symbol interleaving to improve burstnoise immunity without compromising low latency requirements set forthfor LTE.

(H) The circuitry 2415 may accept automatic (i.e. prescheduled)retransmission, providing incremental redundancy when operatingbroadcast services in Un-Acknowledged Mode (UAM).

(I) The circuitry 2415 may enable demodulation using higher orderconstellation (than required by an existing standard) for increasedmaximum system capacity.

(J) The circuitry 2415 may enable use of multiple antenna techniques forthe transmission modes supported in eMBMS, to improve RX SINR and/ordownlink throughput maximizing system capacity.

(K) The circuitry 2415 may operate with a signal bandwidth that isextended relative to an existing standard, where the signal bandwidth isextended in integer multiples of a fixed Resource Block (RB) structureto more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHz broadcast channel bandwidths.

In some embodiments, the transmitter is a transmit-only TV transmitter.

In some embodiments, the transmitter is an LTE base station capable ofunicast and broadcast transmission.

In some embodiments, the receiver system is part of a mobile device.

In some embodiments, the receiver system is part of a non-mobile deviceor fixed device (such as a television).

In some embodiments, the receiver system is part of a television orcoupled to a television.

Transmitter System for Broadcasting TV Signals

In one set of embodiments, a transmitter system 2500 for broadcasting TVsignals may include circuitry 2510 and radio transmitter 2515, as shownin FIG. 25. (The transmitter system 2500 may also include any subset ofthe features, elements and embodiments described above.)

Circuitry 2510 is configured to receive a video content stream VCS andgenerate a symbol stream SS based on the video content stream. The radiotransmitter 2515 configured to generate a transmit signal TS based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space.

Circuitry 2510 may be configured to support one or more of the features(A) through (K) described below.

(A) Circuitry 2510 may employ multiple candidate cyclic prefix (CP)lengths, to minimize overhead in achieving increased delay spreadtolerance, with the MIB/SIB parameter sets extended accordingly;

(B) Circuitry 2510 may employ additional scaling in subcarrier spacingto increase symbol duration for a fixed signal bandwidth, with theMIB/SIB parameter sets extended accordingly;

(C) Circuitry 2510 may employ extended DL and UL control channelsignaling to accommodate additional CP lengths;

(D) Circuitry 2510 may extend the DL and UL control channel signaling toaccommodate additional range in subcarrier spacing;

(E) Circuitry 2510 may schedule paging and other signaling in thesubframes (SFs) that carry primary and secondary sync increasing thenumber of SFs available for eMBMS, and revise the system configurationadvertised on MIB/SIB instructing user devices to accordingly confinetheir using of paging and other control signaling;

(F) Circuitry 2510 may vary the set of available system parameters(e.g., CP length and subcarrier spacing) as a function of the prescribedeMBMS SF allocation (e.g, permitting use of 6 or 8 (or other) out of 10SFs per frame while retaining full use of extensibility in systemparameters affecting delay spread tolerance);

(G) Circuitry 2510 may employ Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ)retransmissions in place of bit/symbol interleaving, to improve burstnoise immunity without compromising low latency requirements set forthfor LTE;

(H) Circuitry 2510 may employ a modified version of HARQ that enablesautomatic, i.e. prescheduled, retransmission providing incrementalredundancy when operating broadcast services in Un-Acknowledged Mode(UAM);

(I) Circuitry 2510 may enable modulation using higher orderconstellation (than required by an existing standard) for increasedmaximum system capacity;

(J) Circuitry 2510 may enable use of multiple antenna techniques to thetransmission modes supported in eMBMS, to improve RX SINR and/ordownlink throughput maximizing system capacity;

(K) Circuitry 2510 may operate with a signal bandwidth that is extendedrelative to an existing standard, where the signal bandwidth is extendedin integer multiples of a fixed Resource Block (RB) structure to morefully occupy 6/7/8 MHz broadcast channel bandwidths.

In some embodiments, the transmitter is a transmit-only TV transmitter.

In some embodiments, the transmitter is an LTE base station capable ofunicast and broadcast transmission.

In some embodiments, the transmitter system 2500 may also include aplurality of antennas, wherein the circuitry is configured to generate aplurality of symbol streams based on the video content stream, whereinthe radio transmitter is configured to generate transmit signals basedrespectively on the symbol streams and to transit the transmit signalsinto space through the respective antennas.

The following numbered paragraphs describe various additionalembodiments.

1.1 A spectrum server for allocating available spectrum resources undercarrier aggregation, the spectrum server comprising:

one or more processors, and memory storing program instructions, whereinthe program instructions, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to perform one or more of thefollowing:

aggregate the available broadcast spectrum into contiguous bands (e.g.,to account for the likelihood that a user device, associated with aparticular secondary cell, has a limited number of radio receivers tosupport carrier aggregation);

assign the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixed resourceblock (RB) bandwidth, designating the aggregate channel bandwidthaccording to the channel at the aggregated band center;

employ a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrier aggregationfrom either an odd or even number of the available broadcast channels;

employ the two modes, with the first mode being band center oriented(BCO), corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels, and thesecond mode being band edge oriented (BEO), corresponding to an evennumber of aggregated channels;

determine the number of aggregate RBs as a function of the broadcastchannel bandwidth (e.g. allocated in multiples of 6, 7 or 8 MHz,depending on the regulatory domain);

number the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of a fixedRB bandwidth, and allocate the available RBs on either side of the bandcenter frequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of the DLOFDM signal;

limit the number of RBs available in a given aggregate bandwidth topreserve required band edge spacing, where the number of RBs allocatedon either side of the aggregated band center is determined, e.g., by thenumber of available channels (N) times the signal bandwidth (perregulatory domain) less the spacing required at the band edge divided bythe fixed RB bandwidth.

1.2 A base station for use in connection with a method for dynamicallyaggregating available spectrum resources, the base station comprising:circuitry configured to wirelessly communicate (transmit and/or receivesignals) with one or more devices (e.g., mobile devices and/ornon-mobile devices) in accordance with a system that performs one ormore the following:

aggregates the available broadcast spectrum into contiguous bands (e.g.,to account for the likelihood that a user device, associated with aparticular secondary cell, has a limited number of radio receivers tosupport carrier aggregation);

assigns the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixed resourceblock (RB) bandwidth, designating the aggregate channel bandwidthaccording to the channel at the aggregated band center;

employs a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrier aggregationfrom either an odd or even number of the available broadcast channels;

employs the two modes, with the first mode being band center oriented(BCO), corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels, and thesecond mode being band edge oriented (BEO), corresponding to an evennumber of aggregated channels;

determines the number of aggregate RBs as a function of the broadcastchannel bandwidth (e.g. allocated in multiples of 6, 7 or 8 MHz,depending on the regulatory domain);

numbers the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of afixed RB bandwidth, and allocate the available RBs on either side of theband center frequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of theDL OFDM signal;

limits the number of RBs available in a given aggregate bandwidth topreserve required band edge spacing, where the number of RBs allocatedon either side of the aggregated band center is determined, e.g., by thenumber of available channels (N) times the signal bandwidth (perregulatory domain) less the spacing required at the band edge divided bythe fixed RB bandwidth.

1.3 The base station of paragraph 1.2, wherein the circuitry includesone or more RF transceivers, one or more baseband processors, and one ormore control processors.

1.4 A device (e.g., a mobile device or non-mobile device) for use inassociation with a method for dynamically aggregating available spectrumresources, the device comprising: circuitry configured to wirelesslycommunicate (receive and/or transmit) with one or more base stations inaccordance with a system that performs one or more of the following:

aggregates the available broadcast spectrum into contiguous bands (e.g.,to account for the likelihood that a user device, associated with aparticular secondary cell, has a limited number of radio receivers tosupport carrier aggregation);

assigns the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixed resourceblock (RB) bandwidth, designating the aggregate channel bandwidthaccording to the channel at the aggregated band center;

employs a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrier aggregationfrom either an odd or even number of the available broadcast channels;

employs the two modes, with the first mode being band center oriented(BCO), corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels, and thesecond mode being band edge oriented (BEO), corresponding to an evennumber of aggregated channels;

determines the number of aggregate RBs as a function of the broadcastchannel bandwidth (e.g. allocated in multiples of 6, 7 or 8 MHz,depending on the regulatory domain);

numbers the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of afixed RB bandwidth, and allocate the available RBs on either side of theband center frequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of theDL OFDM signal;

limits the number of RBs available in a given aggregate bandwidth topreserve required band edge spacing, where the number of RBs allocatedon either side of the aggregated band center is determined, e.g., by thenumber of available channels (N) times the signal bandwidth (perregulatory domain) less the spacing required at the band edge divided bythe fixed RB bandwidth.

1.5 The device of paragraph 1.4, wherein the circuitry includes one ormore RF transceivers, one or more baseband processors, and one or morecontrol processors.

2.1. A base station for use as part of a wireless network, the basestation comprising:

one or more primary-band (PB) radios, wherein each of the PB radios isconfigured to transmit at least over a respective one of one or moreprimary bands (e.g., one or more bands owned by a wireless broadbandcarrier);

one or more additional radios, wherein each of the one or moreadditional radios has a carrier frequency that is dynamically tunable toany of multiple frequency bands within the radio spectrum;

a controller configured to:

receive information identifying a first dynamically-allocated spectrumresource;

tune a first of the one or more additional radios to a first carrierfrequency corresponding to the first dynamically-allocated spectrumresource;

receive a data stream from an infrastructure network;

divide the data stream into a first set of substreams;

direct a parallel transmission of the substreams of the first set usingrespectively the one or more PB radios and the first additional radio.

2.1B The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein each of the PB radioshas a carrier frequency that is dynamically tunable to any of themultiple frequency bands.

2.1C The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein at least one of the PBradios has a carrier frequency that is dynamically tunable to any of themultiple frequency bands.

2.1D The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the multiple frequencybands include the one or more primary bands and one or more additionalbands.

2.2 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the one or moreadditional radios comprise a plurality of additional radios, wherein thecontroller is further configured to:

tune each of the additional radios to a respective carrier frequencycorresponding to a respective dynamically-allocated spectrum resource;

divide the data stream into a second set of substreams;

direct the parallel transmission of the substreams of the second setusing respectively the one or more PB radios and the additional radios.

2.2B The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isfurther configured to:

receive information identifying a second dynamically-allocated spectrumresource;

tune a second of the additional radios to a second carrier frequencycorresponding to the second dynamically-allocated spectrum resource;

divide the data stream into a second set of substreams;

direct the parallel transmission of the substreams of the second setusing respectively the one or more PB radios and the first and secondadditional radios.

2.3 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the informationidentifying the first dynamically-allocated spectrum resource includes:

information indicating the first carrier frequency of the firstdynamically-allocated spectrum resource, and

information indicating a first period of time over which the firstdynamically-allocated spectrum resource has been allocated to the basestation.

2.4 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to generate OFDM symbol streams based respectively on thedata substreams, where said parallel transmission includes paralleltransmission of the OFDM symbols streams using respectively the one ormore PB radios and the first additional radio.

2.5 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to generate symbol streams based respectively on the datasubstreams, wherein the controller is configured to generate symbols ofthe symbol streams with a value of cyclic prefix (CP) length that isprogrammably-selected from a plurality of CP length options.

2.6 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to provide additional scaling in OFDM subcarrier spacing toincrease symbol duration for a fixed signal bandwidth (e.g., additionalscaling as compared to the scaling already required by an existingwireless communication standard such as LTE).

2.7 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to schedule paging and other signaling in subframes (SFs)that carry primary and secondary sync (e.g., to increase the number ofSFs available for eMBMS).

2.7B The base station of paragraph 2.7, wherein the controller isconfigured use the system configuration advertised on MIB/SIB in orderto instruct user devices to confine their use of paging and othercontrol signaling.

2.8 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to vary one or more available system parameters (e.g.,parameters such as CP length and subcarrier spacing) as a function of aprescribed eMBMS SF allocation (e.g., permitting the use of 6 or 8 orother out of 10 SFs per frame while retaining full use of extensibilityin system parameters affecting delay spread tolerance).

2.9 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to employ Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ)retransmissions in place of bit interleaving or symbol interleaving(e.g., to improve burst noise immunity without compromising low latencyrequirements set forth for LTE).

2.10 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to employ a modified version of HARQ, to enable automatic(i.e. prescheduled) retransmission providing incremental redundancy whenoperating broadcast services in Un-Acknowledged Mode (UAM).

2.11 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to perform modulation using modulation orders that are higherthan an existing LTE standard (e.g., 256-QAM over existing 64-QAM) inorder to increase maximum system capacity.

2.12 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to employ multiple antenna techniques for one or more or allof the transmission modes supported in eMBMS (e.g., to improve RX SINRand/or downlink throughput, maximizing system capacity).

2.13 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the firstdynamically-allocated spectrum resource is specified in terms of one ormore resources blocks conforming to a resource block structure of fixedlength in the frequency domain.

2.14 The base station of paragraph 2.1, wherein the controller isconfigured to operate with bandwidth definitions that are extended ascompared to existing bandwidth definitions for wireless broadbandcommunication, wherein the extended bandwidth definitions more fullyoccupy 6/7/8 MHz broadcast channel bandwidths.

3.1 A device for operation as part of a wireless broadband network, thedevice comprising:

one or more primary-band transceivers, wherein each of the PBtransceivers is configured to wirelessly communicate with a base stationof the wireless broadband network using a respective one of one or moreprimary bands within a radio spectrum;

one or more receivers, wherein each of the one or more receivers has acarrier frequency that is dynamically tunable to any of multiplefrequency bands within the radio spectrum;

a controller configured to:

receive one or more network data streams from a base station of thewireless broadband network using the one or more PB transceivers;

tune a first of the one or more receivers to a carrier frequencycorresponding to a first currently-available spectrum resource of theradio spectrum in response to receiving a first message from the basestation, wherein the first message identifies the firstcurrently-available spectrum resource;

receive a first additional network data stream from the base stationusing the first receiver after having tuned the first receiver; and

combine the one or more network data streams and the first additionalnetwork data stream to obtain an aggregate data stream.

3.1B The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the device is a mobile device.

3.1C The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the device is a fixed device(e.g., a television).

3.2 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein one or more broadcasttransmitters in a geographical neighborhood of the base station arecontrolled by a broadcast exchange, wherein the broadcast exchange hasagreed not to broadcast using the first currently-available spectrumresource in the geographical neighborhood of the base station over aspecified period of time.

3.2B The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein one or more broadcasttransmitters in a geographical neighborhood of the base station arecontrolled by an individual broadcaster, wherein the individualbroadcaster has agreed not to broadcast using the firstcurrently-available spectrum resource in the geographical neighborhoodof the base station over a specified period of time.

3.3 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the one or more PB radios andthe one or more additional radios each conform to a common hardwaredesign, wherein each of the one or more PB radios is programmed so thatit is allowed to operate in the respective primary band.

3.4 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to supply the aggregate data stream to an applicationexecuting on the device.

3.5 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the multiple frequency bandsinclude at least the VHF band and the UHF band.

3.6 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the one or more receiverscomprise a plurality of receivers, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to:

tune each of the receivers to a respective carrier frequencycorresponding to a respective currently-available spectrum resource inresponse to receiving a respective message from the base station,wherein the respective message identifies the respectivecurrently-available spectrum resource;

for each of the receivers, receive a respective additional network datastream from the base station using the respective receiver, and

combine the one or more network data streams and the additional networkdata streams to obtain a second aggregate data stream.

3.7 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: tune a second of the receivers to a carrier frequencycorresponding to a second currently-available spectrum resource of theradio spectrum in response to receiving a second message from the basestation, wherein the second message identifies the secondcurrently-available spectrum resource; and receive a second additionalnetwork data stream from the base station using the second receiverafter having tuned the second receiver.

3.8 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the first message identifyingthe first currently-available spectrum resource is received from thebase station using at least one of the one or more PB transceivers.

3.9 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the first message includes:information indicating the carrier frequency of the firstdynamically-allocated spectrum resource, and information indicating of afirst period of time over which the first dynamically-allocated spectrumresource has been allocated for use by the mobile station or the basestation.

3.10 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto extract data from symbols from a symbol stream using a value ofcyclic prefix (CP) length that is programmably-selected from a pluralityof CP length options, wherein the symbol stream is acquired by the firstreceiver.

3.11 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto provide additional scaling in OFDM subcarrier spacing (e.g.,additional scaling as compared to the scaling already required by anexisting wireless communication standard such as LTE).

3.12 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto vary one or more available system parameters (e.g., parameters suchas CP length and subcarrier spacing) as a function of a prescribed eMBMSsubframe allocation.

3.13 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto employ Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissions inplace of bit interleaving or symbol interleaving (e.g., to improve burstnoise immunity without compromising low latency requirements set forthfor LTE).

3.14 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto employ a modified version of HARQ, to enable automatic (i.e.prescheduled) retransmission, providing incremental redundancy whenbroadcast services are operated in Un-Acknowledged Mode (UAM).

3.15 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto perform demodulation using constellation orders that are higher thanan existing LTE standard (e.g., 256-QAM over existing 64-QAM) in orderto increase maximum system capacity.

3.16 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto employ multiple antenna techniques for one or more or all of thetransmission modes supported in eMBMS (e.g., to improve RX SINR and/ordownlink throughput, maximizing system capacity).

3.17 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the firstdynamically-allocated spectrum resource is specified in terms of one ormore resources blocks conforming to a resource block structure of fixedlength in the frequency domain.

3.18 The device of paragraph 3.1, wherein the controller is configuredto operate with bandwidth definitions that are extended as compared toexisting bandwidth definitions for wireless broadband communication,wherein the extended bandwidth definitions more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHzbroadcast channel bandwidths.

3.19 A device for operation as part of a wireless broadband network andfor reception of one or more broadcast signals transmitted by abroadcast network including one or more broadcast transmitters, thedevice comprising:

one or more primary-band transceivers, wherein each of the PBtransceivers is configured to wirelessly communicate with a base stationof the wireless broadband network using a respective one of one or moreprimary bands within a radio spectrum;

one or more receivers, wherein each of the one or more receivers has acarrier frequency that is dynamically tunable to any of multiplefrequency bands within the radio spectrum;

a controller configured to:

receive one or more network data streams from a base station of thewireless broadband network using the one or more PB transceivers;

tune a first of the one or more receivers to a first broadcast frequencycorresponding to a first broadcast signal transmitted by a first of thebroadcast transmitters;

in response to said tuning, recover a first broadcast data stream fromthe first broadcast signal using the first receiver, wherein the firstbroadcast data stream comprises data that has been off-loaded by thewireless broadcast network to the broadcast network for broadcast via atleast one of the one or more broadcast transmitters.

3.19B The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the device is a mobiledevice.

3.19C The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the device is a fixed device(e.g., a television).

3.19D The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the controller is configuredto:

provide the one or more network data streams and the first broadcastdata stream to one or more applications executing on the device.

3.20 The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: display a video signal via a display device (e.g., adisplay device that is incorporated in the device or coupled to thedevice), wherein the video signal is generated from the first broadcastdata stream.

3.21 The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the broadcast networkdynamically controls the allocation of broadcast content streams tospectrum resources for broadcast via the one or more broadcasttransmitters.

3.22 The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the controller is configuredto tune the first receiver to the first broadcast frequency in responseto user input selecting a particular content item from a displayedcontent guide.

3.23 The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the controller is configuredto: collect statistics on a user's viewing of content provided via thebroadcast transmitters; and transmit the statistics to the wirelessnetwork.

3.23B The device of paragraph 3.23, wherein said transmission of thestatistics is performed using the one or more PB transceivers.

3.23C The device of paragraph 3.23, wherein said transmission of thestatistics is performed using a WiFi transmitter (that is included aspart of the device or coupled to the device).

3.23D The device of paragraph 3.23, wherein said transmission of thestatistics is performing using a radio configured to transmit overunlicensed radio spectrum.

3.24 The device of paragraph 3.19, wherein the controller is configuredto: perform said receiving of the one or more network data streams usingOFDM; perform said recovering of the first broadcast data stream usingOFDM.

3.25 The device of paragraph 3.19, further comprising any subset of thefeatures described in paragraphs 3.1 through 3.18.

4.1 A method for operating a spectrum server to facilitate the dynamicsale of available spectrum resources to wireless broadband providers,the method comprising:

receiving a request for the purchase of a spectrum resource, wherein therequest is received from a wireless broadband provider (e.g., via acomputer network);

accessing memory to obtain information identifying a particular spectrumresource in a list of spectrum resources that are not currently beingused by a broadcast network, wherein the broadcast network dynamicallycontrols the allocation of broadcast content streams to spectrumresources for transmission via a plurality of broadcast transmitters;

receiving payment or the promise of payment from the wireless broadbandprovider;

transmitting (e.g., via the computer network) information authorizingthe wireless broadband provider to use the particular spectrum resource.

4.2. The method of paragraph 4.1, further comprising: removing theparticular spectrum resource from the list in response to said receivingpayment or promise of payment.

4.3. The method of paragraph 4.1, wherein, for each of the spectrumresources on the list, the list includes an indication of a period oftime over which the broadcast network agrees not to use the spectrumresource.

4.4. The method of paragraph 4.1, wherein, for each of the spectrumresources on the list, the list includes an indication of a geographicallocation of one of the broadcast transmitters through which thebroadcast network agrees not to transmit on the spectrum resource.

4.5. The method of paragraph 4.1, further comprising: purchasing a blockof available spectrum resources from the broadcast network; and addingthe available spectrum resources to the list.

4.6. The method of paragraph 4.1, wherein, in response to saidtransmitting authorizing information, the wireless broadband provider isconfigured to instruct one or more base stations to start transmittingwirelessly on the particular spectrum resource.

4.7 The method of paragraph 4.1, wherein the spectrum server isconfigured to perform one or more of the following:

aggregate the available broadcast spectrum into contiguous bands (e.g.,to account for the likelihood that a user device, associated with aparticular secondary cell, has a limited number of radio receivers tosupport carrier aggregation);

assign the available spectrum in integer multiples of a fixed resourceblock (RB) bandwidth, designating the aggregate channel bandwidthaccording to the channel at the aggregated band center;

employ a channel numbering scheme that accounts for carrier aggregationfrom either an odd or even number of the available broadcast channels;

employ the two modes, with the first mode being band center oriented(BCO), corresponding to an odd number of aggregated channels, and thesecond mode being band edge oriented (BEO), corresponding to an evennumber of aggregated channels;

determine the number of aggregate RBs as a function of the broadcastchannel bandwidth (e.g. allocated in multiples of 6, 7 or 8 MHz,depending on the regulatory domain);

number the aggregated spectrum up to an even integer multiple of a fixedRB bandwidth, and allocate the available RBs on either side of the bandcenter frequency to avoid signal power in the DC subcarrier of the DLOFDM signal;

limit the number of RBs available in a given aggregate bandwidth topreserve required band edge spacing, where the number of RBs allocatedon either side of the aggregated band center is determined, e.g., by thenumber of available channels (N) times the signal bandwidth (perregulatory domain) less the spacing required at the band edge divided bythe fixed RB bandwidth.

4.8 A method for operating a server as part of a wireless broadbandnetwork, to facilitate the dynamic purchase of spectrum resources,wherein base stations of the wireless broadband network operate in thesame geographical region as a broadcast network including a set ofbroadcast transmitters, the method comprising:

receiving a first message indicating that a given one of the basestations in the wireless network currently needs additional bandwidth;

in response to the first message, sending a request to a broadcastserver for purchase of a currently-available spectrum resource in ageographical neighborhood of the given base station;

receiving from the broadcast server a second message identifying aparticular currently-available spectrum resource, wherein the broadcastnetwork has agreed that it will not transmit using the particularcurrently-available spectrum resource within the geographicalneighborhood of the given base station.

4.8B The method of paragraph 4.8, further comprising:

sending information indicating payment or a promise of payment to thebroadcast server for use of the particular currently-available spectrumresource.

4.9 The method of paragraph 4.8, further comprising:

sending a third message to the given base station, wherein the thirdmessage identifies the particular currently-available spectrum resourceand enables the given base station to start transmitting using theparticular currently-available spectrum resource.

4.10 The method of paragraph 4.8, wherein the first message is receivedfrom a load control server that monitors the state of loading of basestations with the broadband wireless network.

4.11 The method of paragraph 4.8, wherein the request sent to abroadcast server includes an indication of the location of the givenbase station.

4.12 The method of paragraph 4.8, wherein the second message receivedfrom the broadcast server includes:

information indicating a frequency range occupied by the particularcurrently-available spectrum resource; and

information indicating a time period over which the broadcast networkhas agreed not to transmit within the geographical neighborhood of thegiven base station.

5.1 A method for operating an advertising server as part of a wirelessnetwork, to provide targeted advertising to a device that is configuredfor communication with a wireless network and for reception frombroadcast transmitters of a broadcast network, the method comprising:

receiving viewing information from the device, wherein the viewinginformation characterizes behavior of a user of the device in viewingbroadcast content through one or more of the broadcast transmitters;

adding the viewing information to a user-specific record stored in amemory medium;

selecting advertising for the user of the device based on a currentstate of the user-specific record;

transmitting a content stream corresponding to the selected advertisingto the device via a currently-serving base station of the wirelessnetwork.

5.1B The method of paragraph 5.1, wherein the device is a mobile device.

5.1C The method of paragraph 5.1, wherein the device is non-mobile(e.g., a television).

5.1B The method of paragraph 5.1, wherein the device transmits theviewing information to the advertising server using a currently-servingbase station of the wireless network.

5.1C The method of paragraph 5.1, wherein the device transmits theviewing information to the advertising server using a WiFi connectionbetween the device and a WiFi access point.

5.1D The method 5.1, wherein the device transmits the viewinginformation to the advertising server using a transmission overunlicensed spectrum (e.g., WiFi or white space).

5.2 The method of paragraph 5.1, wherein the viewing informationincludes one or more of:

an indication of a broadcast content item currently being viewed by theuser of the device;

a title of a broadcast content item currently being viewed by the userof the device;

a duration of viewing of a broadcast content item that has beenbroadcast by the broadcast network;

a list of broadcast content items viewed by the user of the device.

5.3 The method of paragraph 5.1, wherein the user-specific recordincludes descriptive information (e.g., age, sex, categories ofinterest, educational background, income range, etc.) corresponding tothe user of the device.

5.4 The method of paragraph 5.1, wherein said selecting of advertisingfor the user is based on a predetermined optimal mapping between usercharacterizing information and advertising content items.

5.5 The method of paragraph 5.1, further comprising:

receiving a request for purchase of user-specific viewing informationvia a network (e.g., the Internet);

transmitting data from one or more of the user-specific records storedin the memory medium to the requesting entity;

receiving payment or promise of payment from the requesting entity forpurchase of the user-specific viewing information.

5.6 The method of paragraph 5.1, further comprising:

receiving a request for purchase of right to advertise to the user ofthe device (e.g., from an entity that has previously purchaseduser-specific viewing information, and concluded that it would be worthadvertising directly to the user);

receiving payment or promise of payment from the requesting entity forpurchase of the right to advertise;

receiving an advertising content stream from the requesting entity; and

transmitting the advertising content stream to the device via thecurrently-serving base station of the wireless network.

6.1 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the circuitry is configured to support one ormore of the following features:

extract data from OFDM symbols using a cyclic prefix (CP) length that isselected from multiple candidate CP lengths, to minimize overhead inachieving increased delay spread tolerance, where the CP length issignaled by the base station using extended MIB/SIB parameter sets;

employ additional scaling in subcarrier spacing to increase symbolduration for a fixed signal bandwidth, where the additional scaling issignaled by the base station using extended MIB/SIB parameter sets;

respond to extended DL and UL control channel signaling to accommodateadditional CP lengths;

respond to extended DL and UL control channel signaling to accommodateadditional range in subcarrier spacing;

monitor paging and other signaling in the subframes (SFs) that carryprimary and secondary sync in response to a revised system configurationadvertised by the base station on the MIB/SIB, wherein the revisedsystem configuration instructs user devices to confine their use ofpaging and other control signaling to said subframes, thus increasingthe number of SFs available for eMBMS;

determine the set of available system parameters (e.g., CP length andsubcarrier spacing) based on the prescribed eMBMS SF allocation assignaled by the base station;

accept Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissions in placeof bit/symbol interleaving to improve burst noise immunity withoutcompromising low latency requirements set forth for LTE;

accept automatic (i.e. prescheduled) retransmission, providingincremental redundancy when operating broadcast services inUn-Acknowledged Mode (UAM);

enable demodulation using higher order constellation (than required byan existing standard) for increased maximum system capacity;

enable use of multiple antenna techniques for the transmission modessupported in eMBMS, to improve RX SINR and/or downlink throughputmaximizing system capacity;

operate with a signal bandwidth that is extended relative to an existingstandard, where the signal bandwidth is extended in integer multiples ofa fixed Resource Block (RB) structure to more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHzbroadcast channel bandwidths.

6.1B The receiver system of paragraph 6.1, wherein the transmitter is atransmit-only TV transmitter.

6.1C The receiver system of paragraph 6.1, wherein the transmitter is anLTE base station capable of unicast and broadcast transmission.

6.2 The receiver system of paragraph 6.1, wherein the receiver system ispart of a mobile device.

6.3 The receiver system of paragraph 6.1, wherein the receiver system ispart of a non-mobile device or fixed device (such as a television).

6.3 The receiver system of paragraph 6.2, wherein the receiver system ispart of a television or coupled to a television.

6.4 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to extractdata from OFDM symbols using a cyclic prefix (CP) length that isselected from multiple candidate CP lengths, to minimize overhead inachieving increased delay spread tolerance, where the CP length issignaled by the base station using extended MIB/SIB parameter sets.

6.5 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to employadditional scaling in subcarrier spacing to increase symbol duration fora fixed signal bandwidth, where the additional scaling is signaled bythe base station using extended MIB/SIB parameter sets.

6.6 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to monitorpaging and other signaling in the subframes (SFs) that carry primary andsecondary sync in response to a revised system configuration advertisedby the base station on the MIB/SIB, wherein the revised systemconfiguration instructs user devices to confine their use of paging andother control signaling to said subframes, thus increasing the number ofSFs available for eMBMS.

6.7 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured todetermine the set of available system parameters (e.g., CP length andsubcarrier spacing) based on the prescribed eMBMS SF allocation assignaled by the base station.

6.8 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to acceptHybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissions in place ofbit/symbol interleaving to improve burst noise immunity withoutcompromising low latency requirements set forth for LTE.

6.9 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to acceptautomatic (i.e. prescheduled) retransmission, providing incrementalredundancy when operating broadcast services in Un-Acknowledged Mode(UAM).

6.10 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to enabledemodulation using higher order constellation (than required by anexisting standard) for increased maximum system capacity.

6.11 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to enableuse of multiple antenna techniques for the transmission modes supportedin eMBMS, to improve RX SINR and/or downlink throughput maximizingsystem capacity.

6.12 A receiver system for receiving broadcast TV signals, the receivercomprising:

a radio receiver that is tunable to any of multiple frequency bands,wherein the radio receiver is configured to receive a broadcast signalthat is broadcasted by a transmitter; and

circuitry configured to recover a video data stream from the receivedbroadcast signal, wherein the digital circuitry is configured to operatewith a signal bandwidth that is extended relative to an existingstandard, where the signal bandwidth is extended in integer multiples ofa fixed Resource Block (RB) structure to more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHzbroadcast channel bandwidths.

7.1 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to support one or more of thefollowing features:

employ multiple candidate cylic prefix (CP) lengths, to minimizeoverhead in achieving increased delay spread tolerance, with the MIB/SIBparameter sets extended accordingly;

employ additional scaling in subcarrier spacing to increase symbolduration for a fixed signal bandwidth, with the MIB/SIB parameter setsextended accordingly;

employ extended DL and UL control channel signaling to accommodateadditional CP lengths;

extend the DL and UL control channel signaling to accommodate additionalrange in subcarrier spacing;

schedule paging and other signaling in the subframes (SFs) that carryprimary and secondary sync increasing the number of SFs available foreMBMS, and revise the system configuration advertised on MIB/SIBinstructing user devices to accordingly confine their using of pagingand other control signaling;

vary the set of available system parameters (e.g., CP length andsubcarrier spacing) as a function of the prescribed eMBMS SF allocation(e.g, permitting use of 6 or 8 (or other) out of 10 SFs per frame whileretaining full use of extensibility in system parameters affecting delayspread tolerance);

employ Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) retransmissions in placeof bit/symbol interleaving, to improve burst noise immunity withoutcompromising low latency requirements set forth for LTE;

employ a modified version of HARQ that enables automatic, i.e.prescheduled, retransmission providing incremental redundancy whenoperating broadcast services in Un-Acknowledged Mode (UAM);

enable modulation using higher order constellation (than required by anexisting standard) for increased maximum system capacity;

enable use of multiple antenna techniques to the transmission modessupported in eMBMS, to improve RX SINR and/or downlink throughputmaximizing system capacity;

operate with a signal bandwidth that is extended relative to an existingstandard, where the signal bandwidth is extended in integer multiples ofa fixed Resource Block (RB) structure to more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHzbroadcast channel bandwidths.

7.1B The transmitter system of paragraph 7.1, wherein the transmitter isa transmit-only TV transmitter.

7.1C The transmitter system of paragraph 7.1, wherein the transmitter isan LTE base station capable of unicast and broadcast transmission.

7.2 The transmitter system of paragraph 7.1, further comprising:

a plurality of antennas, wherein the circuitry is configured to generatea plurality of symbol streams based on the video content stream, whereinthe radio transmitter is configured to generate transmit signals basedrespectively on the symbol streams and to transit the transmit signalsinto space through the respective antennas.

7.3 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to employ multiple candidate cylicprefix (CP) lengths, to minimize overhead in achieving increased delayspread tolerance, with the MIB/SIB parameter sets extended accordingly.

7.4 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to employ additional scaling insubcarrier spacing to increase symbol duration for a fixed signalbandwidth, with the MIB/SIB parameter sets extended accordingly.

7.5 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to schedule paging and othersignaling in the subframes (SFs) that carry primary and secondary syncincreasing the number of SFs available for eMBMS, and revise the systemconfiguration advertised on MIB/SIB instructing user devices toaccordingly confine their using of paging and other control signaling.

7.6 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to vary the set of available systemparameters (e.g., CP length and subcarrier spacing) as a function of theprescribed eMBMS SF allocation (e.g, permitting use of 6 or 8 (or other)out of 10 SFs per frame while retaining full use of extensibility insystem parameters affecting delay spread tolerance).

7.7 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to employ Hybrid Automatic RepeatreQuest (HARQ) retransmissions in place of bit/symbol interleaving, toimprove burst noise immunity without compromising low latencyrequirements set forth for LTE.

7.8 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to employ a modified version of HARQthat enables automatic, i.e. prescheduled, retransmission providingincremental redundancy when operating broadcast services inUn-Acknowledged Mode (UAM).

7.9 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to enable modulation using higherorder constellation (than required by an existing standard) forincreased maximum system capacity.

7.10 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space;

wherein the circuitry is configured to enable use of multiple antennatechniques to the transmission modes supported in eMBMS, to improve RXSINR and/or downlink throughput maximizing system capacity.

7.11 A transmitter system for broadcasting TV signals, the transmittercomprising:

circuitry configured to receive a video content stream and generate asymbol stream based on the video content stream; and

a radio transmitter configured to generate a transmit signal based onthe symbol stream, and broadcast the transmit signal into space; whereinthe circuitry is configured to operate with a signal bandwidth that isextended relative to an existing standard, where the signal bandwidth isextended in integer multiples of a fixed Resource Block (RB) structureto more fully occupy 6/7/8 MHz broadcast channel bandwidths.

Any of the various embodiments described herein may be realized in anyof various forms, e.g., as a computer-implemented method, as acomputer-readable memory medium, as a computer system, etc. A system maybe realized by one or more custom-designed hardware devices such asApplication Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), by one or moreprogrammable hardware elements such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs), by one or more processors executing stored programinstructions, or by any combination of the foregoing.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory mediummay be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data,where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, causethe computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a computer system may be configured to include aprocessor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, where the memorymedium stores program instructions, where the processor is configured toread and execute the program instructions from the memory medium, wherethe program instructions are executable to implement any of the variousmethod embodiments described herein (or, any combination of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets). Thecomputer system may be realized in any of various forms. For example,the computer system may be a personal computer (in any of its variousrealizations), a workstation, a computer on a card, anapplication-specific computer in a box, a server computer, a clientcomputer, a hand-held device, a mobile device, a wearable computer, asensing device, a television, a video acquisition device, a computerembedded in a living organism, etc. The computer system may include oneor more display devices. Any of the various computational resultsdisclosed herein may be displayed via a display device or otherwisepresented as output via a user interface device.

Although the above embodiments have been described in connection withthe preferred embodiment, it is not intended to be limited to thespecific form set forth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended tocover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as can bereasonably included within the spirit and scope of the embodiments ofthe invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A spectrum server for allocating availablebroadcast spectrum resources under carrier aggregation, the spectrumserver comprising: one or more processors, and a memory storing programinstructions that when executed by the one or more processors, cause theone or more processors to perform operations including: querying abroadcast exchange server representing one or more broadcast networksfor information indicative of available broadcast spectrum; in responseto said querying, receiving the information indicative of the availablebroadcast spectrum from the broadcast exchange server, wherein, for eachof a plurality of frequency bands in a regulatory domain, theinformation indicates available or non-available status of each channelin a set of channels corresponding to the frequency band; combining acontiguous group of the channels that are of available status, to form acontiguous band; assigning a contiguous portion of the contiguous bandto a wireless broadband network in response to a request from an entityrepresenting the wireless broadband network, wherein said assignedcontiguous portion is defined by an interval of resource block numbers,wherein the resource block numbers correspond to a partition of thecontiguous band into resource blocks of fixed width, wherein theresource block numbers are consecutively numbered, in order offrequency; and transmitting a message to the entity representing thewireless broadband network, wherein the message identifies the intervalof resource block numbers by its endpoints, wherein the message alsoindicates a period of time that said contiguous portion is assigned. 2.The spectrum server of claim 1, wherein the resource blocks of saidpartition are distributed symmetrically with respect to a center of thecontiguous band.
 3. The spectrum server of claim 1, wherein theinformation also indicates a time period over which the one or morebroadcast networks have agreed not to transmit on said availablebroadcast spectrum.
 4. The spectrum server of claim 1, wherein theinformation also indicates a time period over which the one or morebroadcast networks have agreed to not transmit using said availablebroadcast spectrum in some geographical region.
 5. The spectrum serverof claim 1, wherein said one or more broadcast networks include atelevision broadcast network.
 6. The spectrum server of claim 5, whereinsaid wireless broadband network is a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.7. The spectrum server of claim 1, wherein, in response to determiningthat a number of the resource blocks included in the contiguous portionis odd, the one or more processors are configured to insert ahalf-subcarrier shift of the resource blocks included in the contiguousportion, wherein said insertion avoids signal power being allocated to aDC subcarrier when the wireless broadband network generates a downlinksignal based on said contiguous portion.
 8. The spectrum server of claim1, wherein the resource blocks of said partition exclude edge portionsof the contiguous band, to avoid interference with transmissions onother bands of radio spectrum.
 9. The spectrum server of claim 1,wherein the program instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to store a list of thechannels that are of available status, wherein, for each of theavailable channels, the list includes a period of time over which acorresponding one of the one or more broadcast networks agrees not touse the available channel.
 10. The spectrum server of claim 1, whereinthe program instructions, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to receive a message relating to apayment for use of the contiguous portion, wherein the message isreceived from said entity representing the wireless broadband network.11. The spectrum server of claim 1, wherein the entity is a basestation, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the one ormore processors, cause the one or more processors to determine a levelof carrier aggregation (CA) support of the base station, wherein saiddetermining is performed in response to registration of the base stationwith the spectrum server.
 12. The spectrum server of claim 1, whereinthe program instructions, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the one or more processors to allocate resource blockscorresponding to the contiguous portion on either side of a center ofthe contiguous band, to avoid the possibility of signal power in a DCsubcarrier.
 13. The spectrum server of claim 1, wherein the set ofchannels corresponding to a first of the frequency bands has a differentnumber of channels than the set of channels corresponding to a second ofthe frequency bands, wherein the resource blocks of said partition ofthe contiguous band are distributed symmetrically with respect to acenter of the contiguous band, wherein the program instructions, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processorsto assign a second portion of the contiguous band to a second wirelessbroadband network, wherein the second wireless broadband network belongsto a different wireless carrier than said wireless broadband network.14. A base station for operation as part of a wireless broadbandnetwork, enabling dynamic aggregation of spectrum resources, the basestation comprising: circuitry configured to wirelessly transmit adownlink signal to one or more devices using aggregated spectrumresources including a portion of broadband spectrum and a contiguousportion of broadcast spectrum; wherein the contiguous portion ofbroadcast spectrum has been made available by one or more broadcastnetworks and dynamically assigned to the wireless broadband network by aspectrum server in response to a query of a broadcast exchange serverrepresenting the one or more broadcast networks by the spectrum serverand based on information that is indicative of available broadcastspectrum received from the broadcast exchange server, wherein, for eachof a plurality of frequency bands in a regulatory domain, theinformation indicates available or non-available status of each channelin a set of channels corresponding to the frequency band, wherein thecontiguous portion has been assigned by the spectrum server from acontiguous band, which has been formed, by the spectrum server, from acontiguous group of channels of available status, wherein the contiguousportion of the contiguous band is specified by the spectrum server as aninterval of resource block numbers according to a partition of thecontiguous band into resource blocks of fixed width; wherein theresource block numbers are consecutively numbered, in order offrequency, wherein the circuitry is configured to receive a message fromthe spectrum server, wherein the message identifies the interval by itsendpoints, wherein the message also indicates a period of time that saidcontiguous portion is assigned.
 15. The base station of claim 14,wherein, if a number of resource blocks defining said contiguous portionis odd, said circuitry is configured to insert a half-subcarrier shiftof those one or more resource blocks defining said contiguous portion,wherein said insertion avoids signal power being allocated to a DCsubcarrier.
 16. The base station of claim 14, wherein the resourceblocks of said partition of the contiguous band exclude edge portions ofthe contiguous band, to avoid interference with transmissions on otherbands of radio spectrum.
 17. The base station of claim 14, wherein thecircuitry includes one or more RF transceivers, one or more basebandprocessors, and one or more control processors.
 18. A device enablingdynamic aggregation of spectrum resources, the device comprising:circuitry configured to wirelessly communicate with one or more basestations associated with a wireless broadband network, wherein saidcommunication includes receiving a downlink signal transmitted by afirst of the one or more base stations, wherein the downlink signal usesaggregated spectrum resources including a contiguous portion ofbroadcast spectrum, wherein the contiguous portion of broadcast spectrumhas been made available by one or more broadcast networks anddynamically assigned to the wireless broadband network by a spectrumserver in response to a query of a broadcast exchange serverrepresenting the one or more broadcast networks by the spectrum serverand based on information that is indicative of available broadcastspectrum received from the broadcast exchange server, wherein, for eachof a plurality of frequency bands in a regulatory domain, theinformation indicates available or non-available status of each channelin a set of channels corresponding to the frequency band, wherein thecontiguous portion has been assigned by the spectrum server from acontiguous band, which has been formed, by the spectrum server, from acontiguous group of channels of available status, wherein the contiguousportion of the contiguous band is specified by the spectrum server as aninterval of resource block numbers according to a partition of thecontiguous band into resource blocks of fixed width, wherein theresource block numbers are consecutively numbered, in order offrequency, wherein the interval is identified by its endpoints.
 19. Thedevice of claim 18, wherein the circuitry includes one or more RFtransceivers, one or more baseband processors, and one or more controlprocessors.